


Of Bites & Blood & Bonds

by plisetskytrash, victurius



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alpha Victor Nikiforov, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, Biology Inaccuracies, Comfort/Angst, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Forced Bonding, Heavy Angst, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Implied Mpreg, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mating, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mental Health Issues, Nightmares, Nursing, Omega Katsuki Yuuri, Possible Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pregnancy Scares, References to Depression, References to Drugs, References to Knotting, Sad, Terminal Illnesses, Weird Biology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-07-25 17:47:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 31,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20029822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plisetskytrash/pseuds/plisetskytrash, https://archiveofourown.org/users/victurius/pseuds/victurius
Summary: When Katsuki Yuuri takes a gap year before college to travel through Europe, the last thing he expects is to be told he is going to die. After a tragic attack, Yuuri is found by none other than ex-army medic, Victor Nikiforov. With a death sentence looming over their heads, the two know they will only have a short time together, thankfully true love transcends time.ENDING NOT TAGGED. Please read the notes in the fic before reading!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ** IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ! **
> 
> We have _purposefully_ not tagged certain things that would give away the ending of this fic. As such, you are entering this fic blind. You do not know the outcome of the story aka whether Yuuri lives or dies and whether Victor and he get together. Of course, this may be difficult for some. As such, you may **[click the link here](https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/64256288_450404405691634_914939303765737472_n.png?_nc_cat=102&_nc_oc=AQm0vp7eiw6qM07NqUOygjqpbh90GX6TlbpcgKsZlBNRt1t-i-KiX794xm0mUWOuPOA&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr3-1.xx&oh=294e35be0e1ba069591b91f4ce62e3cf&oe=5DDF644E)** to find out whether there is a happy or sad ending to this tale. If you do not mind, please enjoy the fic the way it was intended to be enjoyed: with hope and heartbreak.
> 
> ** All Chapters WIll Be Posted This Week!**
> 
> Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sun! 
> 
> **A Note From Victurius**
> 
> This project is very close to my heart. It is a story that contains references to violent rape and sexual abuse. Please take care of yourself when reading. I will be adding more notes containing explanations and comments on the choices made in this novel after the epilogue has been posted on Sunday.
> 
> **DISCLAIMER:**
> 
> This fic is intended for recreational purposes and does not reflect the authors' opinion on the subject matter discussed nor does it suggest healthy coping mechanisms or intend to glorify the subjects contained within. Read with your own caution.

* * *

_I held you with sweaty palms and shaky hands,_  
  
_ I was so afraid of breaking you._  
  
_ I tend to ruin everything I love, only because I’m convinced I don’t deserve it._  
  
_ And God, I didn’t deserve ** you ** ._ ****  
**  
\- Unknown**

* * *

_ Just a little further, I just need to get a little further. Can't stop now. Can't stop, he'll find me. Come on. Come on. Come on. _

Yuuri's heart raced in his chest as he struggled to run faster and faster in the pitch-black darkness ahead of him. He could feel the tall grass brushing against his bare calves as he stumbled over stones and tree stumps. He pushed past sharp branches of the trees and bushes that surrounded him and cuts were sliced into his face and arms as he stumbled through the night. He wasn’t sure how far he’d run, all he knew was that it wasn’t far enough.

His bare feet crunched into the freezing cold layer of snow on the floor. Tiny white puffs were still cascading from the sky and landing on his eyelashes. His breath was coming out harsh and fast, making little puffs of smoke while his throat burned from the cold. Warm, wet blood was dripping from his neck, down his shoulder, and pooling in his collarbone.

_ Help me. Please, help me. _

Yuuri wanted to scream, but he couldn’t. He just had to keep running. That was the only thing he could do now. He might have no idea where he was. He might be in the middle of nowhere, in a strange and foreign country, but he had to try and escape. He couldn't just stay there and let…

He shook his head as horrendous memories haunted him. Fresh, burning tears pricked his eyes and he let out a terrified scream that was hoarse and broken.

Katsuki Yuuri was running for his life, but he wasn't sure he was going to get very far.

***

Victor Nikiforov had come to the sleepy, silent town of Willowdale to get away from things. He was tired. He had only just turned thirty but after working as a combat medic for the Russian Armed Forces for so long, he just couldn’t face the world anymore. He’d left with a dishonorable discharge and enough PTSD to make the alpha useless for the rest of his life.

He was ready for the silence.

He wanted to heal.

What had attracted him to the mountainside town was the population. There were barely one hundred people. After being in the army for so long and living with so many people and visiting so many packed places, so many war-torn countries… Victor just wanted some peace and quiet to recover.

So when he found a cabin in the middle of nowhere for sale, surrounded by beautiful woodland where he could go back to nature, where he could breathe, he instantly packed his things up. He bought himself a 4x4, got himself a beautiful therapy dog named Makkachin and then packed enough supplies that he wouldn’t need to see people for at least twelve months.

It was exactly what he needed.

Victor had been living there almost six weeks now and he was already feeling better, if not a little lonely. He had never heard silence like this. But there was plenty to keep him busy and his mind active. He tended to his vegetable garden daily and went hunting every few days to collect enough game for him and Makkachin to share, and he went on plenty of adventures with his canine friend.

He wasn’t happy, but he was on the road the recovery.

***

Victor was sat on the wooden floor, curled up with Makkachin as he tried to centre himself. His heart was palpitating in his chest and his hands were shaking and he just didn’t know why. He breathed deeply into Makkachin’s fur as the dog stayed by his side, a constant comfort. Perfectly trained for the now disabled ex-soldier.

“Thanks, boy,” he mumbled, trying to soothe himself as he stroked his beautifully soft fur. “Good boy, Makka…” He was so grateful to the charity that had provided him. He just didn’t know what he would do without Makkachin. He had become his best friend.

It was dark outside and freezing cold even for a mid-September night, but it was warm in the cabin. It had been snowing for several days and it seemed that it wasn’t going to stop any time soon. Victor was glad that the fire was strong and that he had plenty of wood to keep it burning all night.

He dragged himself off the floor as his stomach growled. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been stuck there; fixed to the floor and immobilised in fear. He wouldn’t have moved if it wasn’t for the pooch pulling at his sleeve and attempting to pull him towards the kitchen. He followed his furry friend, knowing that he was right, he needed to eat and so did Makkachin.

Victor had some rabbit meat left from the day before so he prepared that and some vegetables and put it all in a pot ready for the two of them. He’d baked some bread that morning. A hearty stew and some buttery bread was exactly what the Russian man needed on such a cold evening.

He was lighting the gas hob to cook their meal when Makkachin’s ears perked up. Victor paused and he sniffed as his nose picked up a strange scent. He was confused for a second. He could almost swear… He frowned as Makkachin started whining and distracted him from his thoughts. The pooch howled and then clawed at the backdoor which was inside the kitchen.

Victor frowned and looked out the window. He couldn’t see past first few metres of his garden. Beyond the trees was pitch black.

The paranoia suddenly felt like spiders under his skin and he suddenly had the overwhelming feeling of _ I can’t do this _.

_ It’s my anxiety. It’s PTSD _ , he thought to himself. _ I’ve been panicking and now my brain is confused and thinks there’s a threat. I am safe, _ he tried to tell himself but it did nothing to stop the sweating of his palms and the sudden dryness in his mouth. His chest felt tight where it resisted in fear. He knew what was happening. He was having an episode. He’d had anxiety attacks all day and it had clearly been too much for him to cope with.

He scolded Makkachin. “To bed, boy,” he said.

In an attempt to make himself feel better, he walked to the door and quickly locked it but as he returned to the kitchen, every step he took he wanted to turn and look at the door again. He stopped, his limbs feeling heavy. He turned slowly and stared at the door, his nose twitched.

Something felt horribly wrong. Except living with PTSD made everything feel wrong. Victor’s brain just didn’t know how to process things properly any longer. So he stood in the cabin torn between stepping outside to make sure everything was okay, and to just ignore the feeling of panic gnawing inside him.

Makkachin barking and howling at the back door didn’t help him at all and he felt really overwhelmed - he wasn’t sure what to do and he felt stuck between two decisions. Both of which felt really hard. Go and check outside, or ignore it and go to bed.

Victor knew he was being crazy and it frustrated him to no end, but to settle his mental health, he grabbed his coat, pulled on his winter wear - his hat and gloves and his snow boots, before stepping outside and into the storm. Makkachin immediately ran off as soon as the door was open and Victor swore as powerless he watched him go.

“Makkachin!” he called out, panicking even more. He was so stupid. He knew there was nothing outside. He was paranoid. He was ill. Makkachin was probably off after a rabbit or something. He was an excellent therapy dog, but he still was young and liked to have fun. How the hell was Victor supposed to find him in the dark when he couldn’t even see a meter in front of himself? At this time of night, there were wolves and bears around this area and Makkachin stood no chance against them. He had to find the silly mutt.

Panicking, he grabbed a flashlight from under the stairs and his hunting gun, he loaded it and then grabbed a few rounds before running into the snow. “Makkachin!” he called.

He ran into the darkness in the general direction that he thought Makkachin had run and he stumbled as he smelt fear in the air. _ It’s not my anxiety. Someone is out there. _ Wide-eyed, he tried to follow the scent.

“Hello?!” he called loudly, wondering how anyone could survive out here in this temperature. He wondered if someone had been out hunting and ended up injured. His land was a few miles long but it wouldn’t be the first time someone had trespassed on his property as they became overeager chasing something.

Unbeknownst to Victor, a young, Japanese omega lay a few metres away, bleeding out into the snow. His vision was blurring with tears and light-headedness as the blood continued to flow from his neck wound and the scratches covering his body. He heard the Russian greeting, however, and in spite of his diminishing state, Yuuri dug his fists into the snow and tried desperately to crawl away. _ It's him. It's him. He's found me. _

Then something strange happened. As Yuuri brought his hand out to drag himself across the snow, he touched something unfamiliar. It was soft and furry. He blinked and tilted his head upwards to see the outline of some kind of animal: a dog or a wolf, most likely. For the first time since all of this had started, Yuuri smiled. He loved dogs.

Then the whole world went black.

The sound of howling alerted Victor and he ran through the snow to the familiar sound. Finally, he could hear Makkachin. Except, the smell of blood was thick in the air. He stopped, unwilling to get closer if the dog had pissed off something dangerous. He raised his gun, peering down the scope but it was too dark. On guard, he shuffled forwards slowly. He could see the shape of Makkachin but beyond that, in the distance, there was movement and Victor could smell hunger in the air, growing stronger with each second that passed. Without hesitation, he aimed and then shot in the dark. He heard the bullet hit something.

“Makka?” he called and finally, the pooch appeared at his side and Victor cried out in shock. His fur was soaked in blood. He dropped to the floor his torch in surprise. As it hit a branch, the light went out. He was plunged into darkness.

Victor checked the dog obsessively for injuries with his hands but he couldn’t feel anything through his thick gloves and now he could not see. Frustrated, he pulled his gloves off and threw them to the ground.

Makkachin did nothing but lick Victor’s face and then run off again. “Makka!” he screamed, desperate to get to him. He stood up and ran after him in the dark. He couldn’t let Makkachin die. He needed to get him. Plus, Victor couldn’t be in the middle of nowhere by himself. He needed Makkachin. He loved him. He never should have opened that door.

Suddenly, Victor went flying to the ground and for a second he thought he’d been attacked until his brain caught up and then he could hear Makkachin snuffling at his face. He felt around in the dark until he felt something wet on his fingers. It felt suspiciously familiar, it was warm and slick. He brought his hand to his face and then scented it.

“This is… is…” He desperately turned in the dark, feeling all around him to try and find the source. Victor had thought he had fallen over a tree stump. But it was a _ person _. He crawled over but he could not see anything, but he knew the feeling of a body when he felt one.

“Hello?” he said. “Can you hear me?” He found the person’s face and leant down, he could feel the weak, shuddering breath on his face. “You’re still alive.”

Makkachin barked and then wagged his tail. “Good boy,” he praised, before grabbed the body and pulled it over his shoulder. He let Makkachin lead the way back to the cabin.

***

Once he was through the door, Victor headed straight to the living room, balancing the small weight on his shoulder. Makkachin closed the door using his snout and paws and then went to wait for a treat by the sink, clearly expecting praise for a job well done. Victor gently kneeled down and then placed the body on the floor, supporting the person’s neck as he did so. He hovered on his knees for a moment as he stared at the person for the first time.

He lost his breath.

It was a young man, not too far out of boyhood. He was young but clearly an adult as secondary genders didn’t come in until around sixteen to twenty-one and Victor could tell he was an established omega by the smell of him. He was beautiful, his hair and lashes dark against his pale blood-streaked skin. He was clearly Asian which was curious because he was pretty sure that there were no Asian families in Willowdale.

“Where have you come from?” he asked curiously.

The omega was ice cold and dressed in rags of clothes, his shirt was missing and something was wrapped around his neck. His slacks were ripped and he had no shoes or socks on. His feet looked burned from the snow. Victor hurriedly pulled his own snow-covered clothes off and then ran to grab some medical supplies.

It was lucky he was paranoid because Victor had brought a vast range of medical supplies with him in an attempt to stay away from people for as long as possible. He grabbed everything he thought he might need and more from the large trunk under the stairs. He thought about what he might need as he wracked his brain trying to assess the injuries he had seen and what was the most important.

He ran back to the omega and covered him in a medical blanket, he immediately rubbed his chest hard, encouraging him to breathe. His breath was weak and shallow. He needed to get his organs warm or they would fail. He knew that he was probably hypothermic which meant that if he didn’t wake this omega up, then he could slip into a coma and die.

“Makkachin, come,” he ordered. The dog ran over and awaited command, his head tilted at his master. Victor clicked his fingers over the young man and Makka immediately lay down across his chest, trying to share his warmth. “Good boy.”

Victor checked the man’s vitals. Using a stethoscope he checked the blood pressure. It was dangerously low and it was clear why. He pulled the blood-soaked rag which turned out to be the man’s t-shirt from the omega’s neck and winced. A nasty bite was swollen on the side of his neck. It looked like someone had torn through his flesh. He had tried to stop the bleeding himself but he would need stitches and it was badly infected.

“This is…”

He had seen this before. It was one of the reasons why he had he had struggled to cope working for the armed forces. Too many omegas were forcefully mated and brutally bred. They died in childbirth if they made it that far as their bodies rejected the bonds. Victor glanced down at the omega’s stomach and wondered if he had some pups growing in there. He examined his stomach, pressing gently to feel for any babies but he felt nothing. It was either too soon to tell or thankfully, he had escaped that tragedy. Sadly, he stroked the omega’s face, knowing that it was likely that he wouldn’t make it through the night.

The alpha’s chest ached and he struggled to keep himself calm. _ Just hold it together. You’ve got one chance. You’re the only person who can help him. _

Victor tried his best to take his own advice and pulled himself together and reached for a cannula, he fitted it in the young man’s arm but it was difficult. He had lost so much blood that his veins were not cooperating, but he managed to do it through sheer persistence. He wanted this omega to feel no pain. His first priority was making sure he wasn’t suffering. He gave him some strong pain-relief and a strong antibiotic. He knew it was probably for nothing, but he had to try.

It took over an hour, but Victor managed to clean his wounds and sew him up and then dress them. He gave him IV fluids. He wasn’t sure if he would ever wake up but he wanted to try everything.

Once he was convinced that he wasn’t going to bleed to death on the floor, Victor went to his bedroom and gathered bedding and clean clothes. He brought them all to the young man, and then he collected warm water and towels.

“I don’t know what you are doing out here, omega, but I will look after you,” he promised, his eyes watering. He swiped at the tears. _ Get yourself together. This is more important than how you feel. _

He made a bed close to the fire and then set about taking the rags off the omega and tenderly and respectfully cleaning him from head to toe. He had to gather clean water several times as there was so much blood it dirtied the water quickly. If this omega died, he wanted him to be cared for, clean and comfortable. He wanted to care for him the best he could in his last moments.

He didn’t know who he was or where he had come from, but he was here now. The nearest hospital was over a three day drive away. He would never survive the journey, he needed constant help and Victor couldn’t do that if he was behind the wheel. There was no way that they would send a helicopter in this weather even if he could call for help. It was just too dangerous. Besides, he was also sure that what he was doing here would be exactly what they did at the hospital. Except he wouldn’t get one-to-one care like Victor could give. He was more likely to survive longer in Victor’s care.

“I wonder if you can hear me?” he asked.

He was sure he was sleeping and not in a coma. He had good reactions and his brain remained responsive. Victor just wasn’t sure for how long.

“If you can hear me, I promise I’m a professional. I have a medical license, I swear, I’m not randomly drugging you. Even though I am some random alpha that’s found you in the middle of my land in a storm…”

When he was finally dressed warmly in Victor’s clothes, he lay the omega in the makeshift bed and tucked him. He hesitated. He wasn’t sure why he did it, but he leaned forward and stroked his now clean, damp hair from his face.

“I won’t be long,” he said, smiling at him though he knew that he couldn’t see him as he stood. “I just need to sort out my dog and get dressed.”

Looking down, Victor was soaked in the man’s blood. Here was hoping that he didn’t have any diseases, though fortunately, Victor was heavily vaccinated because of his job and had packed a lot of medication with him. He was confident he would be fine.

Victor went about showering Makkachin first, but the pup still had a pink tinge to his fur that he couldn't seem to get out no matter how much he scrubbed him. He gave up in the end. He dried him with a hairdryer and then brushed him, one eye on the unconscious omega as he did so, and then had a quick shower himself. He cried, overwhelmed at what had just happened as he watched the blood swirl down the drain. He had come here to escape this and now he was being made responsible for someone's life again who he was so sure would die. He didn’t blame the omega. It wasn’t his fault. It was the backward world. Victor hated that he couldn’t save him.

The stew he had been cooking was completely destroyed as he had forgotten about it so he ate the bread and gave the stew to Makkachin who thought it was delicious and ate every little bit.

Victor was worried and as he started to tire, he locked every door and window in his cabin and was sure to keep his gun loaded next to him. Whoever had attacked this omega might still be out there and tracking him. Especially if he was pregnant. The alpha might even want him alive until the babies were born if this was deliberate. Only then would he let him die. Horrified, Victor tried not to think about it as he settled for the night on the floor, his hand firmly on top of the stranger’s. He didn’t want him to slip away in the night by himself.

Victor drifted, half awake and half asleep all night, on high alert and overreacting to every little noise.

***

He awoke to the omega groaning, some hours in the early morning, and Victor sat up. It had been 4 hours, the pain killers were wearing off. He squinted at the dosage in the low light before administering it and then the man settled once more.

He went over all the injuries, checking everything that he could. The injured man had already leaked through the first set of dressings on his neck so Victor collected his kit and redressed the wound. He decided to use a different type of dressing this time and lined the sewed-up wound with a different kind of antimicrobial dressing. He’d used an iodine dressing previously because he was in a hurry the last time but now the omega was less in danger, he rummaged through his dressings and looked for a silver dressing. Silver would probably work a lot better with such a nasty infection since it would react with the wound changes.

Once he was finished, he checked Yuuri’s temperature. He was still a little cold but Victor was confident that his organs were no longer in danger. He checked his hands and feet which had both been freezing cold, though thankfully not frozen solid or burnt. He had been lucky to avoid frostbite. Victor took off the young man’s borrowed thermal socks and was happy to see good circulation in his feet. His soles and toes were red with chilblains but Victor had already given him an anti-inflammatory for that.

Victor yawned heavily and sat back down next to the man. He checked his vitals again and he was surprised to see that they were stabilising.

“You might just make it through the night,” he realised and hope bubbled in his chest. “You’re so strong,” he said in bewilderment. He’d never seen anything like it.

He sat for a long time watching the man sleep and thanked God for Makkachin. He tried not to think about what would have happened if he had ignored that nagging feeling inside of him. He wasn’t sure how long the man had been out in the cold, but he was guessing that it had been more than 6 hours. That was a long time to be out in the snow in the middle of nowhere.

He wondered where he had come from. There were no clues. He had no personal items, no money or ID on him. He wasn’t even wearing shoes. The only thing he owned was his ripped bloody t-shirt, his jeans and underwear. Victor figured he was native to Japan from his clothes as he recognised the kanji printed on the labels. Either that or he ordered imported clothes. “What are you doing all the way here, hmmm?” he pondered out loud.

As he figured previously, there were barely 100 people in this town. Most of them were all part of the same families that had been here for generations. Victor was the first to actually move to this area in years. Though, there was the occasional family that vacationed here, there were some cabins on the other side of the lake. He wondered if he was the friend of some rich kids on vacation. He wondered who would be missing him and most of all, he wondered what alphas were in the area who were capable of committing such a crime.

Honestly, it terrified Victor. He had left the armed forces because his mental health couldn’t cope with this type of thing anymore. But though he was suffering from the forced responsibility and the anxiety, it never crossed his mind to abandon this omega. Instead, he sat on the floor and concentrated on trying to keep calm. He had already been struggling so much before this happened, and now the only thing keeping him from having a full-on panic attack was the fact that this omega needed him. He had no choice but to remain strong.

He bent down and hesitated for a moment. The soft scent of the omega was drowned in the smell of death, and the sour smell of another alpha clung to him, even though Victor had thoroughly washed him. It was sad. “I’m sorry for what’s happened to you…” He gave him a kiss to his forehead and then rested their heads together. It was something that alphas did with their mates but it just felt right at that moment as if he could order him to be better simply because he was an alpha he was an omega. If only things were that simple. “For luck,” he said.

***

When Yuuri awoke, it was with a sharp gasp as he bolted upright. His eyes were wide and frantic as he took in his surroundings. The crinkle of the medical blanket made him jump and look down at his lap where it bunched together. Everything was strange and unfamiliar. There was something pressing inside his arm and when Yuuri turned to his side, he noticed he was hooked up to an IV.

“What the--?!” he cried as his hands began to shake and his eyes watered. Memories of the previous night flooded his mind and his whole body trembled in fear.

He looked around him, at the walls and windows as he tried to figure out where he was. He was on the floor of a wooden cabin and he was alone. He desperately wracked his brain of what to do.

Victor had been making coffee in the kitchen and was so shocked at the sudden shout of a voice that his mug smashed to the floor. He ran to the omega’s side. He had spoken in another language so he hoped he could understand his Russian words. “You’re safe, you’re safe,” he said frantically.

Liquid brown eyes turned to the stranger and Yuuri’s heart began to thunder in his chest. One small inhale of breath told him that this stranger was an alpha. Yuuri didn’t know what to do. If he ran in his state, there was no doubt that this alpha would catch him anyway and yet, he felt like he had to try.

With jittering fingers, Yuuri reached over to rip the strange plastic tube out of his arm with a howl of pain. The sharpness of the agony made him whimper and his sight blur a little, but he didn’t let that deter him. Yuuri staggered onto his feet and made a few steps before swaying and falling back onto the floor.

_ It’s useless. I’m trapped. _

His eyes moved back to the stranger and he winced, cowering in his presence at what might happen next.

Victor approached him cautiously, his hands up in surrender. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m friendly. My name’s Victor, my dog found you out in the snow,” he explained before crouching on the floor a few meters away in an attempt to make the poor omega feel less intimidated. But the guy showed no signs of understanding what he was saying. “Do you speak Russian?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, I speak a little Russian, I can speak Japanese and English,” Yuuri replied, shaking his head.

Victor let out a sigh of relief. He could speak English. He smiled kindly and tried again. “I can speak English too. Please rest. You’re very injured. I didn’t think you’d survive the night. Please, relax, you’re very weak. You're sick.”

Yuuri, still frightened and traumatised, couldn’t bring himself to relax, but he was surprised by the scene in front of him. He had never known an alpha to act so docile and submissive. _ Is this a cruel trick? _ Yuuri asked himself as he curled up into a ball and hugged his knees to his chest.

“W-who are you?” he asked in a weak voice, now talking in English.

“I’m-I’m an ex-army medic. My name is Victor Nikiforov. This is my home. You were barely alive when I found you. My dog found you in the snow. You were caught in a storm. You need to rest. Please?” he said.

Yuuri buried his head into his knees, overwhelmed with the new information. He wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. He rocked himself a little and blew out a shaky breath. “You’re not going to hurt me?” he asked.

“No, I…” _ I saved your life. I can hardly believe you’re conscious _. “You were bleeding out in the woods. I brought you back here and fixed you up. The tube in your arm was for medication. I gave you antibiotics and pain relief, for your… your... ” He gestured to his neck, not willing to say the words. He didn’t want the omega to know that he knew exactly what had happened to him. In his experience, that would make him further withdraw and panic. Did the omega even know what had happened? Was he traumatised? Victor focused on not letting his eyes drop to his stomach.

Yuuri looked down at his arm where he had pulled out the strange plastic thing. It was dripping crimson blood down his pale forearm and it throbbed like it was going to bruise. Then he raised his other hand to his neck, feeling the weight of the bandage there. _ This man stopped the bleeding. He was treating me… If he hadn’t found me, I might be dead. _ Yuuri’s mind was racing. The evidence was all there that this alpha was not going to hurt him. After all, if he was, he’d had plenty of chances while Yuuri was unconscious. Instead, the man - _ Victor Nikiforov, _ he remembered - had actually _ healed _ him.

Warmth bloomed in his chest for the first time since all of this had started and Yuuri could feel heat burning his cheeks with gratefulness. “Th-thank you,” he managed to utter, his throat feeling hoarse and aching. In spite of the bandages and the faint fuzziness he was feeling from some strong pain relief, Yuuri could feel the wound in his neck stinging.

“What do I do about the… the…” He couldn’t bring himself to say the words. How could he even begin to talk about the cursed bond that repulsed him with every fibre of his being? The thought of having to live with that evil alpha’s claim on him so publicly made his stomach lurch. 

Feral alphas were deemed to be a thing of the past in many prominent countries, but they were far from absent. In fact, there were many drugs sold in back alleys and dodgy parts of town that were said to induce the feral alpha state in any normal alpha, supposedly temporarily, though Yuuri had his doubts about that. Every now and then Yuuri had heard news stories of feral alpha attacks across the globe and it was something his parents had feared for him. But Yuuri hadn’t wanted his secondary gender to stop him from experiencing life. Oh, how wrong he felt now.

Victor couldn’t help it. His eyes flickered down to the omega’s stomach. “So, you know what it is?” he asked, wanting to be sure before he terrified him even more.

Yuuri nodded shakily, tears shining in his eyes. “Y-yes. I was awake when he…”

Victor gulped thickly as images flashed behind his eyes. Horrible memories of things he had witnessed in service. “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely as he tried to shake it off. “I could take you to the hospital but… I wasn’t sure you’d make the journey.” Plus, they’d probably try and reunite him with the alpha to save his life as this was a common practise. “You’re so very weak. You need a blood transfusion, but even then…” How was he supposed to tell this young man that he’d been forcefully mated, and now he was going to die because he so very clearly didn’t want this? He was so young.

“Even then, what?” Yuuri asked, his brows furrowing together in confusion. “I won’t be able to get rid of it? Well, I kind of assumed that when it was happening,” he admitted and stared down at the wooden floorboards underneath him. “I guess that ruins any chance I’ll have of settling down and starting a family.”

“Your bite is infected because the mating was forced… Your body is rejecting it… I can give you more meds but… the infection…” Victor took a deep breath. “I have enough medicine to keep you comfortable,” was what he said in the end.

Reading between the lines, Yuuri’s head snapped up and his eyes bore into Victor, wide and sad. “I won’t survive, will I?” he asked, though Victor’s expression was enough to tell him he was right. A bitter, sad laugh escaped his chest and Yuuri scoffed. “Well, that’s just… Why did I even bother running then? I should have just let him…” He trailed off, unable to finish that thought.

"Do you want me to take you back?" He hated himself for asking, but he had to now that the omega knew the truth. Going back would mean he had a chance to live. But it would mean being bonded to someone who had clearly hurt him. But the choice was his, regardless of what Victor thought of it.

Yuuri looked at him like he was insane and laughed again. “No, I don’t want to go back,” he muttered in an angry voice that could have fooled most people that he wasn’t scared had it not been accompanied by a whimper after. “I’m dying, not crazy.” The feral alpha who had mated with him was clearly out of his mind. The den he’d taken Yuuri back to was wild and well-lived in. There was no way to reason with someone like that.

“I just had to be sure. I… however I can help you, I will,” he vowed. He came to sit back on the floor in front of him. “What’s your name?” he asked timidly.

Yuuri looked up at him, watching his features carefully to determine if he was lying when he spoke and the omega found no signs to worry about. “Yuuri,” he answered with a small smile and Victor’s eyes widened at the name, a memory flashing to the forefront of his mind for a second. “Yuuri Katsuki, I don’t even live here, you know?” He let out another bitter laugh. “My parents didn’t want me to go on a gap year to travel the world. They said it was too dangerous for an omega.” He paused and smiled at his own stupidity. “I guess they were right, huh?”

Well, at least that explained Victor’s questions. The alpha didn’t answer for a short while. He wasn’t sure what to say to that. Russia was too dangerous. If he had children he would say the same thing. Though Victor was too damaged. Nobody would want him, let alone to have a child with him.

“Well, you can stay here as long as you need. I’m afraid I don’t have any way to contact your parents. There’s no signal out here because of the snow. I’d have to drive to the next town over.”

“Of course,” Yuuri said in a quiet, sad voice. “How long do I have left? Be honest with me.”

Victor took a deep breath. “I have no idea. I thought you wouldn’t make it through the night. I’m not sure how you’re alive right now…” he admitted.

As he took everything in, Yuuri looked at Victor with determination. “Take me to the next town then, if you can? I want to at least try to say goodbye to my parents.”

Victor was shocked by his determination and the sudden strength that he showed and it inspired him. If the omega wanted a chance to speak to his parents then Victor was going to do everything in his power to ensure he could. “It will take a few days,” he explained, the roads would be icy and there would be little visibility. He had experience driving in this kind of weather but it wasn’t easy, and... “we might have to do some pretty dodgy things to keep you alive that long. As I said, you need blood as a bare minimum...” He had lost too much, his body would never recover. 

“Where do we get blood then?” Yuuri asked, his eyes darting from left to right. “Unless you mean… your blood?”

Victor stared at him for a long time before he nodded. That was exactly what he had meant. He had no choice if he wanted him to survive as long as possible. With no new blood, his body would soon shut down. He’d stopped the bleeding but there was no way Yuuri could replenish that much blood in such a short time. “I already checked last night,” he admitted. “We have the same blood type. I have the means of doing it, but it wouldn’t be the safest thing in the world.” But he would be willing to do it if it meant he could get this omega to the next town over.

“Okay, that’s fine. It’s not like it’ll make the situation any worse anyway. I’m already dying.” The way he said it, he sounded so defeated. Victor wished there was more he could do, but there wasn’t and that’s why it was so awful. Even with going above and beyond for this omega, he was still going to pass away.

“Okay, well let me help you, okay? I need to administer your medication, but I can’t do that if you keep ripping your cannula out. If we’re going to go, then we need to leave soon and you need to listen to me and do as you’re told. Do you understand?” He couldn’t do this if he was going to fight him.

Yuuri rolled his eyes a little. “Don’t worry, I’m an omega. That’s what I was made for right?” He glanced down at his feet. “Besides, you can make an omega submit can’t you? With pheromones and stuff.”

“I would never do that to you. I think you’ve been through enough.”

***

Victor wasn’t kidding when he said he had everything. He refitted Yuuri’s cannula in his other arm and then gave him some pain-relief and antibiotics. Victor was brilliant and Yuuri believed him when he said he was an army medic because he knew exactly what to do and did it with ease.

Yuuri was a trembling mess. He felt hot and cold and was sweating all over and was more nauseous than he’d been in his entire life. He couldn’t walk, he was so weak and attempting to drink water only had his stomach rejecting it. He vomited up the water ashamed and embarrassed, but Victor merely smiled kindly and said he had expected that and instead, squeezed at the IV fluid drip, attempting to speed up the administration.

Yuuri watched powerless from the floor as the world spun around him in a feverish haze as the alpha collected everything together that they would need for their journey. Yuuri tried not to think about how he wouldn’t be coming back.

After packing food, fluids and supplies, Victor couldn’t avoid it much longer. He had to transfer Yuuri to the car. He helped the omega go to the toilet and then carried him outside and into the cold and into the SUV. It was freezing outside, the snow heavy and the wind bitter cold. It cut through Victor and chilled him to his bones, so he couldn’t imagine how cold it must feel for the omega who was sick and so small compared to Victor. Yuuri buried his face in Victor’s chest as he carried him, running with him quickly across the snow. He had moved the 4x4 as close as he could to the porch, but even then, the two of them were covered in snow by the time they got into the back. He settled Yuuri in a makeshift bed in the back, his supplies next to him and Makkachin lying on the omega’s legs.

“I’m going to get this transfusion started,” he said kindly, once he was sure that Yuuri was comfortable. “I can’t leave it any longer, I want to get you nice and set up.” He grabbed a saline drip and then gave Yuuri a smile before he connected a different bag to himself, he inserted the needle with a practised ease, flushing the blood out and into the empty bag. He hooked it on the back of the seat and then connected the blood bag to the bag with the drip chamber. It took a few minutes, but the two of them were connected, Victor a human blood bank, keeping Yuuri alive but still, Victor wondered if the omega would die in the back of the car.

With that in mind, he climbed into the front and turned the ignition. He immediately turned the heat on then slowly started driving. He was careful, he couldn’t really go to fast as the road up to his home was mostly downhill. He was glad when he was out of the woods and on his way towards the main road. He kept one eye on his rear-view mirror, constantly checking Yuuri and Makkachin as he was making his way through the storm. His window wipers frantically cleared away the snow but it was no use, it was back just as quickly as it was gone. He could hardly see in front of himself. He got as far as the end of his land before he realised he would have to go uphill. There was no way around it. He glanced into the back. “Um, just hold on, okay?” he warned, before he attempted to brave the hill.

Even with chains on his tires, it was no use, immediately they cut through the ice but did not grip, instead, chipping the ice away and then causing them to slide backwards. “Fuck,” the alpha cursed. He slammed on the accelerator but even with four-wheel drive, the car just skid from side to side. “Come on,” Victor begged his car, but they only moved a few meters before skidding right the way back down. It was too much even for his tank of a car.

He glanced into the back again, trying not to alarm the omega that they were stuck. He tried again and again, each time becoming more steadily desperate until he both heard and felt the damage on the car. The back chain snapped from the repeated friction against the tire and it burst the back tire. The two of them yelped as they came to a stop, the loud bang exploding at the back.

“Shit, shit,” Victor cursed in Russian and for a moment he buried his face in his hands, feeling like he might cry in frustration. There was no way they were going to make it up that hill and now Victor worried about if they could even turn back. He didn’t voice any of this aloud, instead, he took a deep breath and collected himself. 

“I’ll go and check the tire.” Going out in the snow to attempt to change the tire would be a stupid idea. He could hardly see. He could injure himself attempting to remove the chains. But he couldn’t tell that to Yuuri. He didn’t want to give up. So he pulled unclipped the tube connected him to Yuuri, grabbed his coat and wrapped himself up before heading outside. It was only one of the chains that had snapped, he breathed a sigh of relief. But with the tire in the state it was in, they wouldn’t be able to go on. They could make it home if they were careful.

He got back into the car with a heavy heart and thinking about how to tell Yuuri that he had failed him. The one thing that the omega had asked for, Victor had not been able to do. He felt like such a failure. Yuuri was going to die and Victor couldn’t even do this one thing for him. The guilt ate at him.

Feeling a little delirious, Yuuri lay in the backseat petting Makkachin's soft head while he thought about all the things in life he had yet to experience. There was so much he was going to miss out on: college, a career, falling in love, getting married, having children… And it seemed like fate was determined to ensure he lost this one last thing too. Tears streaked down his face as he whispered a quiet apology to the parents he would never speak to again.

"It's okay, Victor. I'm dying, not stupid," Yuuri began in a thick voice. "We can go back. It's pretty obvious we're not getting anywhere in this snow and I don't want to die any quicker than I have to." He sniffed and pet Makkachin a little faster. "You said you can make me comfortable? Will you keep me company too?" He looked up at the alpha with wide, wet eyes, begging for the comfort he sorely needed.

“I’ll never leave your side. I’ll stay with you until the end,” he swore and he had never meant something so much in his entire life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Please note the following:**
> 
> This chapter contains scenes depicting PTSD. These are written from the life experiences of plisetskytrash (Amanda) and may not necessarily reflect anyone else's PTSD symptoms.  
This chapter also contains scenes of sex after rape/sexual assault. Please note that this is not in an effort to undermine the trauma of sexual assault and instead is meant to indicate that happy, enjoyable sex can still be had after trauma. Both plisetskytrash and victurius have experienced sexual assault and/or rape, however, we are not perfect at tackling the subject. We will take constructive criticism, but please no outright bashing of our work. Thank you.

They made it back to the cabin with a bit of hard work and Victor felt like it had been a completely useless journey. He had done nothing but get Yuuri’s hopes up and then disappoint him. He wasn’t sure if he could ever make it up to him. He vowed to make these last days of Yuuri’s life as comfortable as they could be. He just wasn’t sure how to go about that emotionally. He could patch him up and make him pain free, he could feed him and make sure he was clean but… how was he supposed to make sure he was happy and entertained, that he wasn’t suffering mentally as he felt himself slowly deteriorate. Victor was awkward at the best of times, but he hadn’t always been this way. He used to be charming. He used to be interesting, but now he was nothing, he was just a shell of the person he used to be.

The first thing he knew he could do was make Yuuri as comfortable as possible, and he couldn’t really do that with the makeshift bed he had made on the floor. He decided that he needed to be in a proper bed, though Victor didn’t have a spare room, that meant giving his own bed to the omega.

So, the alpha was kind enough to carry Yuuri to his own bed upon their return to the cabin. The heavy scent in it alarmed Yuuri at first until he willed himself to calm down. He knew this alpha was not a threat to him and even if he was, soon it would hardly matter.

***

Victor settled on the couch that second night, feeling so very far away from the man who he now knew was called Yuuri. It was comfortable, but it just didn’t feel right. He had an alarm set two-hourly to check on Yuuri, but even with seeing him every so often, and being assured he was still in the bed and alive, Victor could not quell his anxiety.

The entire situation seemed to be catching up with him. He was physically exhausted and emotionally wrecked and he didn’t know how he was going to cope with this. He felt like he was going to break. He couldn’t help it as the temperature dropped around 5am, he found himself shivering, even though the fire was burning. Feeling stiff and sore, he stood to put some more logs on the fire.

The cabin was silent. Makkachin was in the other room. Yuuri was in Victor’s bed. It was the most company that Victor had had in weeks, possibly months, yet he felt so alone. He couldn’t burden Yuuri with these feelings, the poor guy was already suffering so much. So instead, the alpha curled back up on the sofa alone, tears streaming down his face and he sat and listened to the silence.

***

One small comfort was that Victor's dog, who Yuuri learned was named Makkachin, seemed to be glued to his side. The large poodle was determined to be near Yuuri at all times, though he did fidget, moving positions from on top of Yuuri's lap to curled up at his side to laying on his feet. The warmth of him soothed some of Yuuri's anxiety and he found comfort in petting the adorable animal.

Victor was happy that Makkachin seemed to understand that Yuuri needed help. He had caught the dog checking the omega’s breathing several times as he slept, though he would never tell that to Yuuri. 

As Yuuri slept, flashes of the traumatic event felt burned into his eyelids. He couldn't help but cry out in terror. Makkachin jumped down off the bed and ran to Victor, alerting his host.

"Yuuri, are you okay? What happened?" Victor asked from where he appeared at the door. He stepped inside and sat in the chair that was next to the bed. “Can I help?”

"N-nightmares," the omega whimpered in response. "No matter what I do… they're always there as soon as I close my eyes." He sniffled and rubbed at his eyes. "Do you think it would help if I spoke about them?"

"Only if you want to, I’m here to listen." Victor already knew he was having nightmares. It had been three days and though Victor had managed to stave off death for the omega, he wasn’t sure how to help with him psychologically when he was already such a mess himself. “I won’t judge you,” he said, smiling at him kindly. He could smell the fear on him, the embarrassment. Maybe talking to him about it was one way he could help.

"I'm sure you can guess what they're about," Yuuri began, "I was travelling from Moscow to see a museum that's a few miles south of here. I decided to stop in Willowdale to get some food and maybe sleep for the night, but as soon as I was off the bus…" Yuuri couldn't say it for a moment. His eyes filled with fresh, hot tears and he began to sob. "I was grabbed. I screamed, but there was no one around to help. The alpha was clearly feral and not thinking straight… I don't even know if he was aware of what he was doing, but… He took me to some kind of abandoned barn and that's when he…" Yuuri gave Victor a meaningful look. He couldn't say it out loud yet, it was too painful. "Once he was finished with me, he fell asleep and that's when I ran and then… Well, you know the rest."

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely, because what else was he supposed to say? There was nothing that he could have done to prevent this for Yuuri. He had joined the army to help people who were victims of forced bondings, but he felt like he had never made a difference. It was still an epidemic. Literally happening upon his doorstep - now matter how hard he tried to hide from it.

"Thanks for saying it," Yuuri responded with a weak smile. "Do you think I'll have nightmares until I die?"

Victor was haunted by his own nightmares so he was the worst person to ask if Yuuri wanted a hopeful answer. He had tried everything to get rid of them and nothing helped. “I hope not,” he said in the end. He didn’t want him to suffer in the short amount of time that he had left on this earth.

"Me too." 

***

It became somewhat of a routine for Victor to sit with Yuuri as he slept. He had moved an armchair to his bedside and spent a lot of time there reading to him or simply keeping him company. 

As suspected, the nightmares were constant and it seemed nothing Victor did could soothe him. Yet the alpha still tried. He never gave up and that meant the world to Yuuri. 

***

While Yuuri made peace with his fate, however, Victor did not. The alpha began to browse every medical book he owned for answers he knew he would never find. Victor knew a lot about alpha and omega dynamics, and even more about forced bondings, and he could think of nothing that could help Yuuri aside from him accepting the bond. He knew that would never happen in a million years, the omega had been attacked, it would be impossible for him to accept it.

When Victor came to Yuuri's bed to once more check his pulse and blood pressure, Yuuri had a plan in place he wanted to convey. "Victor, I know you have already done so much for me when you know there is no way for me to pay you back. I'm a broke college student after all." He laughed. "There's no money I can leave for you and my family… Well, they barely have two yen to rub together. But, I was hoping that you could do one last thing for me. I know I shouldn't ask more of you. You've been so very kind, but would you?" 

“Of course,” Victor said, he would do anything. He felt so completely hopeless in this situation. He knew logically he had saved the omega, but it was killing him inside that he couldn’t fix this. “However I can help you, I will, I’m so sorry that this happened to you.”

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Yuuri gushed, tears flooding his eyes. "I know my parents number off by heart. If I write it down for you, when you get a chance to go into town after the storm, it would mean so much to me if you could let them know what happened." His eyes went wide with realisation. "I mean, not everything. Not about the alpha who r-raped me. I think that would hurt them. No. Please, could you make something up? Something a little more peaceful. I just don't want them to spend the rest of their lives wondering if I'm still out here somewhere."

Victor gulped thickly, his heart hammering in his chest at the thought of having to do such a thing. He’d done enough of that when he was serving. His hands shook and he clasped them together in an attempt to steady them. “Of course. I’ll tell them I found you hypothermic. That you’d got caught in the storm and just went to sleep.” It would be kinder than reality. “What about your body?” he asked, feeling sick at having to ask. “Would you like me to bury you?” he asked, hoping that he was being respectful enough.

"I've never even thought about that…" Yuuri trailed off and his eyes went down to the sleeping puppy on his legs. "Um, I think you should just burn it. There's no point having my body buried in your backyard and I don't want to rot away… Just burn me and throw the ashes to the wind. Maybe they'll be carried home that way."

Despair overwhelmed the poor teen and he began to cry. Everything felt so much more real after they discussed the details like this. It was even worse that Yuuri had no one to comfort him. All he wanted right then was for his mother to hold him and tell him everything was going to be alright. But she never would again.

Victor ached to reach for him. He wanted to comfort him. He wished he could make this all go away but things were not that simple. “I… I can take your ashes home,” he offered. “To your family. If that’s what you want?”

"It's so far…" Yuuri murmured. "And they live in this tiny village, you won't have ever heard of it. But I suppose you could mail them back maybe? I don't know." Tears continued to fall and Yuuri found that he couldn't stop them.

“I couldn’t mail you!” Victor was shocked at the suggestion. “No, I… I promise I’ll take you home. If you want to go home, I’ll take you. You deserve to have your wishes.”

"But… But. It'll be so expensive… it's not worth it."

“You’re a human being… I could never do that to you. I mean, I’ve come to know you. It would have been different if you’d had died that first night. I wouldn’t have known any of this. I could have just buried you and I never would have known your name. But I do. I know who you are. I see what kind of person you are and it’s awful that your life has been cut so short. It’s not fair. This is the least I could do.”

Hearing Victor speak so kindly of him and the situation warmed Yuuri's heart. "I'm glad I didn't die that first night," Yuuri replied. "If I did, I'd never have known you or Makka… and that would be a tragedy. Even if the waiting is torture."

Victor couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to sit around and be waiting to die. He couldn’t possibly begin to comprehend it. “You’ll tell me if you need anything, won’t you? If I can do anything at all?” He gazed at him softly, his heart aching for him.

"Can you fix me?" he asked with tears clouding his vision.

Victor shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry. If I could, I’d give my life for yours. ” He meant it. If he could swap his sorry existence so someone like Yuuri could live, then he would. "I wish I could fix this for you. I wish I could take the pain away…" 

"I wouldn't let you swap with me," Yuuri said with a shake of his head. "I wouldn't wish this terrible fate on anyone. Besides, I'm sure if you were an omega then you would have been more careful." He paused and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I should have listened to my parents. This is all my fault."

Victor turned to face him completely. "No. Don't even think that for a second." He reached and gripped Yuuri's hands. "You did nothing wrong. You're a victim in all of this. You can't blame yourself. Not even for a second. All you were doing was trying to live your life."

Yuuri nodded. "I know you're right, but I can't help feeling guilty about this. Like I was so stupid to think I could travel by myself. My mom wanted to set me up with this alpha she knew - her friend's son - but I said no. I wanted to go to college and see the world before I settled down… If I had listened to her, this never would have happened."

"You can't think that way. You don't know what would have happened. I think it's important to make your own choices, I'm just sad for you that this happened when you were trying to do something for yourself."

"Yeah well," Yuuri began in a bitter voice. "Life sucks and then you die. I'm just getting the sucking over with early." He gave a hollow laugh at his own cruel joke before turning away from Victor and scooting down in the bed. "I'm going to rest now. Thanks for your help, Victor."

***

Time passed. It passed far too quickly for both of them. Sometimes Yuuri woke and thought it had all been just a dream. It was soon dispelled, however, by the strange bedroom he was lying in. He felt the IV still hooked up to him where it was slowly pulsing Victor's blood into his veins. The gravity of the situation did not escape him and he found himself lost in a pit of despair.

Other times were even less kind, they were spent with Victor at his bedside and gripping his hand, carefully timing medication and trying different methods to try and heal his neck. But the wound just spread. Poison spread through Yuuri slowly killing him, infecting his organs and weakening him. Black lines spreading like roots under his skin from his neck and down his back, the wound draining his life force.

Crying felt good for Yuuri. Being able to let out all his anger, frustration, and sadness made him feel a little better. Yet, he knew nothing would fix it. It was merely a waiting game now.

"Why me?!" he cursed quietly in the dark room on his fifth day in Victor's cabin just before he heard a knock on the door.

_ Oh, shit.  _ He rubbed frantically at his eyes in an effort to dispel his tears before he called. "Come in."

The alpha walked inside and hovered by the bed. He had heard Yuuri crying and it felt wrong to just ignore him when he was in the last moments of his life. No one deserved to be crying by themselves at the end.

Victor sat on the floor in front of Yuuri, he'd spent a lot of time there watching him sleep. More than Yuuri would ever realise. Sometimes Victor didn’t sleep, he just sat watching Yuuri and wondering what he was like as a person before all this happened, wracking his brain for some kind of answer, praying for a miracle.

"Are you…?" How could he ask if he was okay?  _ Insensitive _ , he cursed himself. "I mean, I know you're not okay but… How are you holding up? Is there anything you need?"

Yuuri gave the alpha a fragile smile and shook his head. "I'm not doing great, I'll be honest," he admitted. "I don't think staring at these same four walls is doing much to help. It gives my mind far too much time to wander…" He trailed off and looked down at his hands. "But there is something I've been meaning to ask you," Yuuri began with fidgeting fingers. "Can you check my scent to see if I'm pregnant? I know alphas can smell that sort of thing pretty early on and I… I need to know. I know that it doesn't really matter either way, but…" He paused and clutched at his stomach. "I need to know."

Victor gulped guiltily. Though he had checked, he had never thought to mention to Yuuri that he had already done so. He was pretty sure that he wasn't, but if Yuuri had been attacked the day that he met him (which he suspected he had not from how old his injuries looked) then Yuuri would be clearly pregnant by now. For an omega of his size, Victor could only estimate that he would probably hold a small litter of puppies for 8 weeks at the absolute most. He was far from large, his hips small-set and likely capable of carrying 2-3 puppies at once.

"I erm, I have a confession,” he said, because he had to tell him. “I did actually check that first night. When I figured out what had happened to you, I wondered if there was an alpha out there hunting you down. I didn't feel anything then, but I can check again. I won't be able to scent them because they're not my babies… I've never mated before so I wouldn't know the scent of your puppies, it’s different for each omega…” It was a common misconception about alphas, though Victor guessed some alphas who had got many omegas pregnant might recognise the scent of puppies in general. But not Victor.

“But I can examine your stomach. Would that be OK?" he asked a little unsure. He had been helping Yuuri with his hygiene needs and in every way possible since the omega was so weak, but he wasn’t sure how he would feel about an alpha touching him for something like this.

Yuuri nodded. "It's okay, I don't mind," the small omega answered as he reached down to pull of the baggy, borrowed t-shirt of Victor's he was wearing. He dragged the fabric up over his chest and revealed the pale skin of his torso marred by large purpling bruises and thick red scratch marks. He balled up the t-shirt in his hands and stared down at them. "Do you need me to lie down or…?" he asked. 

“Please,” he said with a small smile reaching down and attempting to locate where Yuuri’s womb was sitting, whether it was between his hips or higher up. He pressed his finger tips firmly against Yuuri’s stomach.

“You live here alone?” Yuuri asked, attempting to ease the awkwardness between them with some small talk. “You said you don’t have any babies, does that mean you’re unmated?”

“Yes, I haven’t been here long to be honest. It’s just me and Makkachin.” He gave him a small smile. “I’ve err, never had the opportunity to mate.” Yuuri had told him so much that it didn’t feel right not to be honest with him and open up. He’d only known him a short amount of time but the omega had a way of calming Victor with simply a look. Victor knew he would never judge him. “I served in the Russian Armed Forces, training as a medic from when I was sixteen. I displayed as an alpha early on so I had no problems in the army. I er… was discharged when I was diagnosed with PTSD eighteen months ago,” he admitted, feeling ashamed.

Yuuri frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that. Living with mental health problems isn’t easy,” he said, feeling sad from hearing about Victor’s problems. “What caused it?”

Victor was silent for a moment, his movements stilled. “There was a village… their water supply was compromised. The alphas were drugged feral. They couldn’t tell the difference between family and friends… children… there was no-one spared. By the time we got there it was too late. We saved some of the alphas in the end but… not many of them could live with what they had done. So many people died and… I couldn’t save them. I tried but… I’ve not really been able to get over it. It was just… it broke me. I don’t think anyone can love me how I am now. Sometimes I wake up screaming and I think I’m back there, covered in blood and helplessly trying to…” He trailed off as he realised he had stopped moving and he was just staring at Yuuri, his heart palpitating in fear.

With a sympathetic smile, Yuuri reached out and placed a hand on Victor's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Victor. That sounds terrifying. I can't even imagine…" He paused and shook his head. "Anyone would struggle to deal with that kind of horror. If it didn't affect you, you wouldn't be human."

Victor looked back to Yuuri’s stomach and moved slightly lower. “I’m an alpha. I should have been able to cope.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. I’ll never have to see something like that again,” he said, though they both knew it was a lie because Victor was doing it right now. The very thing that had broken him mentally. He was going through it all again for Yuuri.

“Good news,” he said, grateful for the change of subject, “there’s no sign of swelling. Your womb is still where it should be for your age. The first week puppies grow quicker than the rest of the pregnancy so your womb would be here, closer to your bellybutton as a placenta forms and it stretches ready to make room. And it’s not, it’s down here,” he said, pressing between Yuuri’s lower stomach and pubic mound.

Yuuri let out a relieved sigh and closed his eyes. “Thank God,” he whispered under his breath. “I think that would have made everything ten times worse. It’s hard enough knowing I’m going to die, let alone some innocent pups too.”

When he opened his eyes, he regarded Victor once more and was overcome with emotion. This kind, gentle, and caring alpha was everything he had left and not once had Victor made Yuuri feel uncomfortable or like a burden. He was overcome with gratefulness and was determined to find a way to thank him, even if it was merely as a shoulder to cry on.

“If you ever want to talk about what happened or if you wake up from a nightmare and you’re scared… I’ll be here,” he said with a kind smile. “I’m not trained in psychology and I’ve never been in the army, but I’ll always listen and I’ll try to help if I can. No one deserves to feel like they’re alone.”

“I… Thank you. I… I actually spoke to a psychologist and a psychiatrist but… they didn’t seem to help. Medication just made me hazy. That’s why I came here. No-one seemed to understand so, thank you for trying, but you don’t have to do that. I don’t want to burden you.”

He smiled at Yuuri and then he helped him sit up again.

“You wouldn’t be a burden!” Yuuri rushed to say. “You’ve done so much for me and you’re such a kind person and a supportive alpha… I’d… I’d like to think if this wasn’t happening, maybe we could be friends?” Yuuri blushed a little and looked down at his hands. He’d never thought too much about it before, but if he was being honest, Victor was exactly his type. He was strong, tall, handsome, and had beautiful hair and eyes. The fact that he was an alpha as well meant that Yuuri was innately attracted to his scent.

Victor was surprised at such kind words and a little confused. If this had never happened to Yuuri, then he would have no reason to be here, and if he stayed around too long he would only learn how horribly broken Victor was. He didn’t want that. He had been pretending that Yuuri wanted to be here and hadn’t been forced to be in his company. He had been pretending that Yuuri would somehow survive and really see Victor for who he was. But Yuuri was young and attractive; he deserved someone better than Victor whose brain was completely fucked. He had assumed that Yuuri wouldn’t give him the time of day otherwise. How could he?  _ He would never want to be more than your friend. You can’t protect him. You can’t provide for him. You can’t work. Your mind is sick… _

“You  _ are  _ my friend,” he said eventually, swallowing down the doubt, “and I appreciate you being so kind. You could be bitter, but you aren’t. You’re kind of amazing actually.”

Hearing such a bold compliment only made Yuuri’s cheeks heat further. “I’m not amazing, trust me,” he mumbled as he tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. “And I am very bitter and angry about all of this… I just don’t see the point in taking it out on you.”

“You’re so strong. I’ve seen men go mad for less,” he admitted. “Me included…”

Yuuri laughed. “I don’t feel very strong right now,” he admitted. “All I want is my mom to be here, to hold me and tell me everything is going to be alright.” Tears spilled down his cheeks and he shook his head. “You probably think I’m a pathetic teenager for wanting my mom, don’t you?”

“Not at all. I never stopped wanting my mom, I still want her sometimes now even though I know I can’t have her, she passed away ten years ago. Her and my father,” Victor explained. He came to sit on the bed next to Yuuri. He held out his hand in invitation.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Yuuri replied sincerely as he took Victor's hand, his heart pounding. “You must have been so young when it happened… Are you all alone now?” the omega asked before realising how rude he might appear. “I mean, sorry, that’s none of my business.”

“I’m thirty now. Getting old,” he joked. “So I was twenty at the time.” He shrugged. “Just me. And Makka I guess.” He tried not to sound sad about it.

“Don’t you ever get lonely?” Yuuri questioned. “I’d be lonely if that were me…”

“Sometimes, but… I don’t really do well around people anymore. My PTSD is just not good in the city.” This was honestly embarrassing, what must Yuuri think of him?

"I don't like a lot of people either," Yuuri confessed with a shrug before he pulled his t-shirt back over his head. "It makes me anxious when there's lots of people around or when I'm the focus of lots of people's attention. So, I kinda understand."

“Really?” he asked, a little surprised. “You get anxious?” It had taken Victor a long time to figure out that the overbeating of his heart, the constant shaking, the sickness, and the dizziness was all anxiety. For a long time he’d thought he had a problem with his heart. He felt very alone in his diagnosis. He had never met another person who understood how difficult it could be just standing in a crowd.

“Yeah, always,” Yuuri admitted. “I don’t know why. My parents always just said I was shy.”

“You don’t seem shy to me,” he replied honestly, “in fact you’ve been anything but. Though maybe you just like me?” he said, bumping his shoulder softly against Yuuri’s.

Yuuri giggled a little, surprised at how at ease this alpha managed to make him feel. "M-maybe I do," he admitted with a soft smile.

Victor’s heart skipped a beat and he felt his face warm. For the first time in a long time, Victor had a warm feeling in his chest and thought he knew this was going to end in tragedy, he didn’t care. “Well good, I’m quite fond of you."

The young omega couldn't stop the smile on his face that tugged at his cheeks. "Do you ever wonder…" he trailed off and shook his head. "Nevermind."

“No what?” he instantly prompted, eager to know what the omega had to say. “Hey. What did I say, there’s no judgement from me, remember?”

Yuuri reached up to scratch the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. "I was wondering if we would have met, if none of this had ever happened. Do you think we would? Do you ever wonder about stuff like that?" 

“What? Like if we met in another way?” he asked. “You could have come hiking past my cabin in the snow, lost on the way to Willowdale. I could have made you hot chocolate and gave you a bed for the night and then waited for the storm to pass. We’d bond while snowed in. Then when the storm passed I’d drive you to the next town and we’d say goodbye. But you’d come and visit me every year for a holiday. I don’t know, I’ve not really thought about it.” He grinned at him.

Yuuri laughed, feeling his spirits lift at the fantasy Victor painted for him. "I like the sound of that," he agreed with a nudge against the alpha's arm. "Perhaps in another life? Although, if we get another life after this one, we'll be terribly out of sync. I'll probably be 50 before you're even born."

“True, but we could find each other again. What’s another few years? And a little age gap wouldn’t matter. You could be the old man this time and rescue me from a storm.”

Yuuri scoffed and laughed again. "You're hardly old, Victor," he chided playfully. "But that does have a nice ring to it. After all you've done for me, I'd be glad to rescue you however you needed to be."

Victor fell quiet, wishing so much that it was that easy but the truth was, he didn't know what happened after someone died. He liked to think that there was a higher plain of existence, he wanted Yuuri to be going somewhere beautiful where he could be happy and safe. 

"Are you okay?" Yuuri asked, noticing that Victor had gone quiet. "I'm sorry, I hope I haven't upset you."

"No, it's not you. It's just this situation. Life is so unfair." He felt a lump build in his throat as he was overwhelmed with emotion. "Just… I'm glad I found you, that I can do this with you, if only for a little while." Unsurely, he leant forward and pulled Yuuri into a hug. He wasn't sure if it was for the omega or for himself. 

With a surprised gasp, Yuuri's eyes widened at the sudden gesture. Feeling the comfort and warmth of another body against his own was so incredible, however, and he couldn't help but give in to it. He relaxed in Victor's embrace and wound his own arms around Victor's torso.

"How do you always know what I need before I even know?" Yuuri whispered, bemused and a little elated.

"I felt like I needed it, so you must have for sure," he muttered into the uninjured side of Yuuri's neck. Very slowly he scented him in a friendly manner, giving Yuuri space to pull away if he didn't like it.

Yuuri leaned into the calming and caring touch of the alpha. The two of them stayed like that for far longer than was probably polite, but Yuuri didn't care anymore. He needed comfort so badly, he didn't care what he should and shouldn't do.

"You're going to make an omega very happy one day," Yuuri whispered, trying to bury the jealousy that surged inside him at the thought.

_ But I want you _ , Victor thought before he could stop himself. Because he did. He wanted it desperately and like everything else in his life, he wasn't going to get it. Yuuri would die and then Victor would go back to being by himself again. 

"I doubt it," he replied, "but thank you."

Yuuri frowned a little and rubbed Victor's back in soothing circles. "I have faith in you, Victor Nikiforov. If you let me down, I'll come back and haunt you." He giggled.

***

The smell of blood was thick in the air and Victor felt like he was choking on it even through his head gear. The snow was painted red in the small town which was hidden in the deeply forested outskirts of northern Russia. There were no signs of survivors.

They had been travelling for almost a day, trying to locate where there was a chemical spill, Victor didn't know if it was an act of terrorism or a simple mistake that should never have happened. He didn't have enough security clearance to know. Either way, the government wanted it contained and covered up. Victor was part of a team of 50 soldiers, 10 of which were medics. Their mission was simple: retrieve the survivors and then wipe the town off the map. 

"Keep checking, men," Victor called and the soldiers around, carefully checking bodies.

Unfortunately, it was a familiar scene. He was powerless to do anything but stand and wait for orders as his team set up a medical tent. 

"Sir! Sir! Over here!"

Victor immediately ran to the voice, his heavy boots thumping loudly in the snow as it got in the way. He dropped to the floor where a teenager lie, his blonde hair sprawled around him like a halo. 

"I'm sorry, mother, father, I am sorry. Please God, forgive me. Please forgive me." His Russian words were slurred and it was hard to understand him. But it was clear he was praying. 

"We're here to help you, you're going to be okay," Victor said, immediately reaching into his bag to grab a syringe of antidote. The poor boy couldn't be older than 15, he was young to have presented already but he was clearly an alpha. "What's your name?" he asked as he prepared the dose.

The boy was very weak and his mouth and clothes were covered in blood from where he had unwilling gorged. He was a small alpha, and Victor was worried too much of the strong drug would overdose him but he had no choice. He prepared half of what he thought was the approximate dose and then quickly administered it.

"Y-Yuri…" the boy managed to gasp out as he desperately looked up at Victor.

“Yuri, you’re going to be okay,” Victor assured him.

“I didn’t want to do it, I’m so sorry, please…” He was clearly in a lot of pain and still half in a feral state, his eyes glowing blue until they rolled back into his head and he started fitting, his whole body shaking as he convulsed.

“Yuri, stay with me now!” Victor demanded, but even with his commanding alpha tone, the smaller alpha was unable to respond.

The head medic immediately sprung into action as white foam-like saliva started to froth from his mouth and Victor knew it was too late. The boy was too far gone. 

"Victor?"

Victor was busy trying to stop his convulsions and clear his airway but the small alpha's jaw was locked. His own breath stopped as he caught sight of his wrist, black veins spreading across him, pumping the infectious contaminant into him. It burnt under his skin, spreading fire throughout his body.

“Oh, God! No!” He scrambled back from the convulsing teenager in shock . He stilled, staring up at Victor with his now dead blue eyes, the glow extinguishing as his life slipped from him.

“Victor?!”

He grabbed another antidote, this time for himself, but his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn’t calculate the dose.

“Victor?!”

Victor’s eyes flew open and he was immediately greeted by a concerned looking Yuuri. The alpha gasped in shock and threw himself off the chair and scrambled to the corner of the room. His chest was heaving as panicked breaths pulled from him. Terrified, he looked at his hands in horror and obsessively began to brush his hands and wrists as if to wipe away the imaginary disease.

With a sympathetic expression, Yuuri pushed himself off of the bed and walked shakily toward Victor. He crouched down so he was at the same height as the alpha. “Hey, Victor, are you with me?” he asked, reaching out slowly. “It was just a nightmare. I promise you, whatever you saw, it wasn’t real.”

"But… But…" He tried to orient himself but he was still there, he could still smell the fear and the shame in the air. It took him a few moments to realise that smell was coming from himself. 

Makkachin appeared and he looked between the dog and the omega in front of him, his mind struggling to catch up. Instead of calming, pain and humiliation welled inside him and he couldn't help the tears as they fell. His dog came to him, licking his face and sitting, half leaning against Victor as if to say 'I'm here'. 

Yuuri reached out to put a hand on Victor's shoulder. "Victor, its okay. I'm here. You can talk to me if you want to. Would you like some water or tissues?" 

Victor stared up at him unsurely as he tried to process what Yuuri was saying. 

"Okay, will you be okay if I run and grab some things or would you prefer me to stay with you right now?"

"I… I don't know," he replied. He didn't know what he wanted. All he could think about was how fast his heart was beating and that five minutes ago he was infected with a rutter drug and a child was dying in front of him. Yuri was his name. He stared up at this Yuuri and couldn't help but sob because he hadn't been able to save that boy, and he couldn't save the man in front of him either.

"Okay," Yuuri replied and lifted Victor's chin with his other hand. "Look at me," he ordered until those wet blue eyes met his. "Nothing bad is happening to you right now. You're safe. Okay? I promise."

Victor looked up at Yuuri. It was hard to believe the omega when everything felt so wrong. Nothing felt safe right now. Except the touch of Yuuri's hand felt comforting and he leaned into it. Slowly he unwrapped himself from the floor and then took a risk and reached for Yuuri.

There was no way Yuuri could turn him away. He hugged the alpha close to his chest and began to rub soothing patterns into his back. Yuuri shushed him and held him tight. "Everything is okay, you're safe," he repeated like a mantra. "No one is going to hurt you, I promise."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm such a mess. I-I don't know what happened. I've been coping so well and…" God he had humiliated himself. He was shaking He was so ashamed of himself. Now Yuuri would see what he was really like. A useless alpha who was weak and afraid. Broken. 

"Hey," Yuuri whispered as he held Victor tighter and began to stroke his hair. "It's okay. You don't need to be strong all the time. Everyone has their bad days, Victor. It's nothing to be ashamed of. We'll get through it together. I'm here for you."

The promise only made Victor cry harder because they both knew that Yuuri was dying. "But… But… I'm an alpha. I'm supposed to protect you, but I'm just a mess." Victor sniffled pathetically as he clung to Yuuri. "I can't do anything right. I've been trying so hard to get everything right for you and I can't. I've tried so hard but it doesn't matter what I do. You're going to die and then I'm going to be here by myself again." It was a selfish thing to say and Victor hated himself for it. He was awful. It was a terrible burden to place on the omega.

Yuuri swallowed, feeling his throat go dry and uncomfortable. Victor was right. This was inevitable and there was nothing Yuuri could do about it. "Even alphas need comfort and love sometimes, Victor. You're being too harsh on yourself. I'm sorry if me being here has made things harder for you. I wish I could stay here longer to help you… I promise, I'll hold on as long as I can."

"It's… It's not your fault. It's just me. I'm so fucked up." He held onto Yuuri for a long time, not sure what else to do. But after a while he realised that the omega's scent seemed to be calming him. Surprised, he pulled away for a second in disbelief before hugging him again. "Do you mind if I lie on the bed with you tonight?" His face burned in shame. "Your scent makes me feel better," he admitted feeling so vulnerable as he said the words. 

Taken aback, Yuuri’s eyes grew wide, but he soon found himself nodding. “Of course, whatever you need,” the omega agreed before drawing back and smiling at the alpha. “Shall we go lie down for a little while now?” he suggested.

Victor wasn’t sure if it was the most sensible thing to do considering his fragile sake. He didn’t want to get dependant on Yuuri. He was already in trouble from the way he had shown this side of himself to the omega. But somehow he couldn’t say no to the comfort, not when for the first time since developing his PTSD, it felt soothed.

***

Victor tried to make Yuuri as comfortable as possible, to give him space, but he couldn't really leave him for too long considering he was having to share his blood with him. The alpha was feeling a little weak, having already donated several pints to Yuuri over the last week they had spent together, but he couldn’t stop when he could see the colour coming back to his cheeks. He tried to eat and drink well in order to replenish the lost blood, but how could he eat when there was an omega dying in his bed? Everything he ate tasted like sand and he struggled to get it down, his stomach protesting as his anxiety made it churn. 

Yuuri was sweet, possibly the sweetest omega Victor had ever met. He wondered if in another life they could have been something more. The omega seemed calmed by him, and though he was wracked with his own mental health issues, somehow he managed to pull through for Yuuri without breaking down. Somehow, it was easier when he was doing it for him.

There was another thing too. Having the omega in his home was somewhat comforting. He smelled very pleasant, a sweet smell, though it was laced with the smell of death. Victor found that he liked Yuuri’s scent. He’d never had the opportunity to live with an omega before, so this was all new to him. And though he’d only known Yuuri a short time, he knew he was going to miss him. The cabin somehow felt warmer with him softly sleeping in the other room while Victor tended to his needs.

He struggled by himself at the reality of Yuuri being dead sometime soon. The longer he spent with him, the more it felt like it was going to destroy him. Yet, he couldn’t distance himself. The omega needed him. Victor would be there for him, regardless of how he would feel when he was gone.

***

Slowly, Yuuri began to regain his strength. The blood transfusions and the stitches helped fend off the most imminent of his problems and solve his blood loss issues, though no matter what Victor did, Yuuri's rejected mating bite still throbbed and stung. Dark veins still coarser over Yuuri's body, stretching from that wound. Still, Yuuri was happy when on his ninth day as Victor's resident, he could finally summon enough energy to walk around the outside of the house with Makkachin, playing fetch with her.

Victor didn't like it at first. He didn't want Yuuri to risk further injury or illness, but he couldn't resist the happy smile on Yuuri's face as he played with the puppy or the rosiness of his cheeks after coming in from the cold.

When Yuuri left the house, however, Victor realised how much he missed his presence. Desperate to feel close to him once more, Victor proposed that they watch one of the few DVDs he had brought to the cabin with him. Yuuri agreed happily.

It was the first time Yuuri had spent a long time out of bed. He curled up on Victor's sofa with a blanket and Makkachin at his side while Victor prepared some lunch for the two of them. It was a soup made from the vegetables in Victor’s garden that Yuuri had managed to pick.

The alpha was soon at his side and settling on the sofa with him. “Here you go,” he said, handing a small bowl to Yuuri. He’d been eating better but he was still vomiting up most meals. Victor had been giving him anti sickness medication but it didn’t really help too much.

Yuuri took the bowl gratefully and enjoyed the warmth of it on his hands. “This smells delicious, Victor, thank you,” Yuuri replied with a small smile before lifting his spoon to tuck in. For the first time, he managed to keep down the soup and was happier for it. It gave him hope that maybe Victor was wrong and maybe he would survive this.

But as soon as the soup was gone, Yuuri couldn’t help but notice the bitter cold around them. He pulled his blanket close and tucked his feet under Makkachin’s sleeping body in an effort to warm up his toes. Still, however, he was shivering.

Victor smiled at him sadly and shuffled a little closer, leaning slightly against Yuuri in an attempt to share his heat. He wasn’t sure if it was the bite or the fact the omega wasn’t used to the snow, but he seemed to be cold most of the time. He had grown comfortable with him, he hoped that he knew Victor only had honorable intentions with him.

Yuuri couldn't help but lean into the warm body next to him. Victor felt red hot and inviting. The omega’s head fell onto Victor's shoulder. "What are we watching then?"

“I’m embarrassed to say, but all I watch is bad rom-coms,” Victor admitted with a blush. “I like the happy endings. I’m a complete sucker for it.”

That fact only endeared Yuuri more to Victor. "Hey, happy endings are the only ones worth watching," Yuuri responded with a nudge. "Life is hard enough as it is, why be hard in fiction too?" As he spoke, Yuuri tried his hardest not to think about his own situation, but how could he not? 

“I agree. Plus, I’m a secret romantic. I’ve never been in love before so I kinda like the idea of two people meeting and just… completing each other? I know it probably doesn't work that way, but a guy can dream, right?”

Yuuri thought about it for a moment. "I've never been in love either," he finally admitted. "But I don't think it's about completing one another, at least, it isn't in my head. When I do fall in love, I'd like it to be a choice and not because there's only one person who could ever complete me, but because we chose each other over and over every day for the rest of our lives…" Yuuri trailed off and shook his head. Victor didn't reply for a second as he felt his heart twist in his chest at Yuuri’s words. "I said 'when' didn't I? Oh, well, you know what I mean."

“I definitely like the sound of that. Though I doubt someone would choose me once, let alone every day.” Victor let out a self-deprecating laugh in an attempt to cover how much he really meant it and how much that hurt.

"I don't think you give yourself enough credit," Yuuri informed him. "You're a handsome, kind, and generous alpha. Trust me, you're an omega's dream." He smiled sadly, bitter jealousy eating away inside him. "Besides, you've got so much of your life left ahead of you, Victor. You've got all the time in the world."

The words should have assured him, but all he could think about was how wrong Yuuri was. “I guess,” he said, though he didn’t really mean it. “Anyway, so we’ve got 50 First Dates, Leap Year, Just Go With It, Forgetting Sarah Marshall… yeah, I know they’re all terrible but I just can’t help but love them.”

"Um, how about Leap Year? That's such a cute one, and it's set in Ireland. I love Ireland."

“Really? Have you been?” he asked. He wondered how far Yuuri had been on his travels before this stopped him. “Did you visit many places?” he asked.

With an excited twinkle in his eye, Yuuri nodded. "I did actually. Russia wasn't my last stop, but before I got here I spent two months in America, a couple of weeks in Venice and Paris… Not Ireland yet though." He smiled sadly. 

Victor smiled sadly back at him before sorting out the DVD. He snuggled back into Yuuri as soon as he sat back down, tucking them both in under the blanket. The two of them watched the film, both entertained and enjoying each other’s quiet and pleasant company. Until Victor felt Yuuri’s head slump onto his shoulder, his breathing soft. He’d fallen asleep. Victor didn’t move and he stayed there long after the film had finished.

***

That evening, after Yuuri had managed to gulp down a few spoonfuls of vegetable broth, he was lying awake in bed and staring at the ceiling. Despite the lethargy of his body, he couldn't sleep. His mind kept racing with thoughts of his family followed by flashing images of the horrific event that had landed him here. A part of him didn't want to sleep for fear of the nightmares he'd certainly encounter, but he was also struggling to find any comfort or peace.

So, it was probably selfish of him to ask this of Victor and yet, Yuuri found that the one benefit of imminent death was that he didn't care about being selfish anymore. When Victor returned to the bedroom to check on him, Yuuri couldn't resist asking.

"Would you mind sleeping with me tonight?" he asked quietly, his eyes averted from the other man. "You'll probably think I'm just a stupid omega, but I find your alpha scent rather comforting after having spent the last week and a half with you, in your house and in your bed." He paused and looked up to meet Victor's and eyes. "You can say no, of course. I know you didn't ask for me to show up on your doorstep like this and you've already helped me far more than most other people would…"

“Of course,” he said instantly, his heart skipping.

"Thank you," Yuuri replied as he lifted the comforter in invitation. "At least I don't snore," he joked before wincing as the sharp pain in his infected bite stung again.

Victor climbed in next to him and gently, he held the omega close to him. “Is this okay? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Yuuri let out a long breath and relaxed his body against Victor's warmth. He took in the strong scent with a smile and closed his eyes. "This is perfect," Yuuri admitted. "Is this what being with an alpha is supposed to be like? I'd never been with anyone before that alpha kidnapped me."

Somehow that hurt him more. “You were a virgin?” he asked, his voice cracking. It was heartbreaking. He’d never been able to experience intimacy as it was supposed to be. A connection between two people. The most natural thing in the world.

With a slight embarrassed flush of his cheeks, Yuuri nodded. "I was… I wanted to save myself for bonding," he confessed and then let out a sad chuckle. "I guess in some way, I kinda did, huh?"

Victor’s heart dropped and he struggled to hold himself together at the omega’s words. “I’m so sorry, if there’s anything I can do…”

Yuuri’s pulse raced. He glanced up at the alpha behind him through his long, thick eyelashes before looking back at his lap and lacing his fingers together. He knew that what he was feeling was wrong and he knew that a good person would never ask for something like this, but Yuuri couldn't resist. He wanted to at least try to get something good out of this awful experience. “Well, actually, there is something you could do…” he admitted.

Victor raised an eyebrow, instantly willing to do anything for Yuuri to make him feel better. “Just tell me, I’ll do whatever you need.”

Yuuri turned in his arms, kneeling on the bed and pressing his palms to Victor’s chest. “Will you show me what sex is supposed to be like?” he asked.

Victor felt something shift inside of him and his cheeks flushed. The attraction that he had been trying to hide for the omega came to the surface and he couldn’t hide it any longer. “You want me to make love to you?” he asked, hardly believing what Yuuri was asking him.

The omega nodded. “I know I’ve been getting stronger since you found me, but we both know there’s no escape for me, no matter how much blood you transfuse or how many of my wounds you stitch up, this bite is going to kill me. I don’t want to die with that night as my only experience of sex. Please.”

Victor reached for Yuuri’s hands. “I… Of course. But not because you’re dying… because I want to. I really like you, Yuuri,” he admitted. “I wish this could have been different.”

Yuuri felt a sad lump in his throat and he nodded. “M-me too.” He stroked his hand down over the soft fabric of Victor’s t-shirt. “I mean, I really like you too. I wish this wasn’t happening.”

Victor felt hope raise in his chest. “I’m glad it’s happening. But as I said, I wish things were different… Maybe we can pretend? Imagine what it would be like if we’d met another way?” Victor suggested with a small smile. “I’d probably marry you,” he whispered, “you’re so beautiful. I’d be crazy not to put a ring right here.” He grabbed Yuuri’s hand and then kissed his ring finger.

Yuuri felt his heart thud against his chest. His cheeks turned pink and he smiled. “I-If we’re pretending things…” he began and then took a steadying breath. “Can we pretend it’s my first time?”

“It  _ is _ your first time, sweetheart,” he said and he meant it. Because Yuuri had never had sex before. What had happened to him was nothing short of violence. He looked at him sincerely before leaning forward and capturing Yuuri’s lips in a gentle kiss.

The young omega gasped against his lover’s lips. Though an alpha had forced himself on Yuuri before, he had never experienced a kiss and Yuuri found it to be more heavenly than he ever imagined. He opened his mouth and let Victor’s tongue caress his own, enjoying the sweet movements the other man made. When they finally pulled away, Yuuri smiled and wrapped his arms around Victor’s neck.

“If you married me, would we have kids?” he asked shyly.

“ _ When _ I marry you, we’ll have as many children as you like,” he promised. “And we’ll live together here and be so happy together. It will be perfect.”

Though Yuuri knew these were lies, he let himself indulge in the fantasy, knowing that fantasy was all he would ever get. “And you’d love our babies, wouldn’t you?”

“I’d love them so much. I’d never love anything as much as I would love them, except maybe you.” He grinned.

Yuuri smiled and leaned down to press another gentle kiss to Victor’s lips. “Okay then, make love to me, Victor,” he whispered against the alpha’s lips.

The alpha smiled and gently lay Yuuri down, kissing him deeply and gently stroking his face. “I’ll be gentle,” he promised.

Victor kissed down Yuuri’s neck and instead of cringing away from the forced mating bite, he pressed a loving kiss over the dressing. “My bite looks so pretty on your neck,” he whispered, not sure if it was the right thing to say, but he wanted to pretend.

Imagining that the bond bite on his neck belonged to Victor soothed Yuuri in a way that he hadn’t expected. A calmness washed over him and it felt like some of the acidity in the infectious sting went away. “It shows I belong to you. It’s my favourite thing in the world,” Yuuri gushed before leaning up and kissing his lips again.

“So it should be… it shows how much I love you.”

Yuuri’s eyes grew wide. “You… You love me? Really?” he questioned, his voice higher pitched than usual.

Victor didn’t have to pretend for that. “Yes,” he said, pulling back slightly to look into Yuuri’s eyes.

Brown eyes locked with blue and Yuuri felt his whole body tingle with a mixture of fear and excitement. “I… I think I love you too,” he confessed.

Victor knew that this wasn’t part of their game. He could feel it in his touch. In the way he trusted Victor with this. “Let me make you feel good, okay? You tell me if I do anything you don’t want. Your first time is all about you…”

Those words made Yuuri shudder and he felt his cock grow harder in his pants. It finally hit him that this was really happening and he was going to have sex with someone who loved him and Yuuri was going to enjoy it.

“O-okay,” he agreed with a small, excited smile. “W-would you touch me? D-down there?” Despite the trust he had for Victor, Yuuri still felt shy about the whole thing. It was such an intimate thing he’d never shared with anyone before.

“Yes,” Victor whispered against his lips, his hand softly stroking down Yuuri’s stomach and to his borrowed pyjama bottoms. Tentatively, he reached for the omega’s cock, his hand gently searching to find the bulge. He expected the omega to be soft, to be anything but rock hard like he was now, red hot against his hand. He realised that Yuuri really, really wanted this.

“Remember, you tell me if I do anything you don’t like. We can stop at any time.” He was aware that Yuuri was nervous and that he was really sick. He wanted to be as gentle as possible and just make him feel amazing.

Yuuri nodded and groaned as Victor touched him for the first time. Even though it was through two layers of fabric, it felt incredible and Yuuri never wanted him to stop. “Please, Victor, it feels good,” he whimpered. It was the first time anyone other than himself had touched his cock and he felt like he might come in his pants from how good it was.

Victor rubbed him gently, groaning at the feel of Yuuri’s cock under his hand. It had been a long time since he had been intimate with anyone and no one as important as Yuuri. He rubbed the length, it felt amazing to touch someone, and as Yuuri responded, his cock twitching, it encouraged him to rub him harder.

“I could… do you want…” He hesitated before moving his hand up and then playing with the waistband and waiting for permission.

“Y-yeah,” Yuuri nodded eagerly. “Please, touch me. Make me feel good, Victor.”

Victor kissed him as he slipped his hand under his underwear. He softly gasped as he touched him for the first time. His skin was silky soft under his fingers as he wrapped his hand around his length.

“Oh God,” Yuuri moaned. His head fell back on the pillow and he gasped as Victor’s warm, big hand touched him and began to slowly stroke his cock up and down. “Wow, that feels so much better than when I do it,” he remarked in awe.

The words made Victor smile. “I’m glad. How would you feel about my mouth?” he asked.

Yuuri’s jaw dropped open. “Your…” He paused to try and process such a dirty thought. “You would… do that for me?”

“Of course,” he whispered. “I’d do anything for you. I’m dying to find out how your cock feels in my mouth. You’ll let me suck it?” he asked.

“Yes!” Yuuri cried in amazement, like he thought that would be obvious.

Victor kissed his lips, his nose and then his forehead before slowly pulling back to remove the omega’s pyjama bottoms. He pulled his clothes off and sat between his legs, his eyes all over Yuuri. He’d seen him naked so many times, but this was different. Those times were intimate in a different way, in a way that showed he cared for Yuuri, that he helped him do the things that he couldn’t. But this, it was the first time he’d seen Yuuri hard and it was such a welcome sight.

Under the alpha’s attention, Yuuri felt his cheeks flame and a flush spread down his neck to his chest. “Do I look okay?” he asked, feeling a little self-conscious. “You’re staring.” He looked down, avoiding Victor’s gaze.

“Of course I’m staring. You’re beautiful,” he said. Yuuri’s body was covered in evidence of being assaulted and it made Victor’s heart ache. He wanted to kiss every inch of his body and make him forget each of the unwanted touches. He wished he could kiss the scars away, on his body and on his mind.

Unable to bear it, Yuuri drew Victor toward him, cuddling him close. “No one’s ever called me beautiful before you,” he admitted.

“Well it’s true,” he said. Before gently kissing the uninjured side of Yuuri’s neck. He touched him tenderly, rubbing over his nipple softly as he kissed his neck.

Yuuri gasped as Victor tenderly caress his pink, perky nipple and made pleasure ripple inside his chest. “Oh… I didn’t know that felt good,” Yuuri whispered, his voice husky as his eyes fluttered closed in pleasure. “Can you do it again?”

Victor did one better, kissing downwards and then licking across his nipple, he sucked on his softly as he played with the other.

Yuuri couldn’t quell the moans falling from his lips as Victor expertly manipulated his body and made him feel things he’d never dreamed of. Inside him, he could feel arousal curling and tensing. He felt his cock leak pre-come and his ass dampen with slick. “P-please,” he begged.

Victor let out a breathless laugh before moving downwards, kissing down his stomach until he reached his cock. He gripped it firmly, looking up at Yuuri before he pressed a kiss on the head and then slowly sunk down on it, sucking it into his mouth.

The young omega gasped as his hot, throbbing cock was engulfed in the warm, wet softness of Victor’s mouth. “Wow, that’s… Fuck,” Yuuri muttered as his hand dropped to Victor’s head on instinct and grabbed the soft hair there. He moaned loudly as Victor began to bob his head.

Victor’s eyes fluttered closed at the feel of Yuuri in his mouth. He tasted amazing and the alpha could smell how wet he was already. It made him suck harder and try to swallow him down further. He groaned, his throat vibrating against Yuuri.

It was almost too much. Yuuri knew he couldn’t take much more of such sweet pleasure. He arched his back and thrust his hips up into Victor’s amazing mouth a little. “V-Victor, I’m gonna come… I can’t…” he began to warn the other man.

Victor licked at the underside of Yuuri’s cock, swirling a pattern as he sucked him down over and over again, his mouth watering at the thought of the omega coming.

It was inevitable. The way Victor's tongue eagerly lapped at his cock was making Yuuri feel lightheaded. He came with a cry of joy inside the alpha's mouth. His balls tightened and his whole body went rigid from the force of it. As he came down from his high, Yuuri shuddered and shook, his thighs trembling and his muscles going weak.

Victor swallowed everything that Yuuri gave him and then wiped the back of his mouth with a smile. "Was that okay?" he asked, pulling Yuuri into his arms again and kissing his face.

Yuuri nodded, still feeling a little out of it from the orgasm. "That was so much more than okay," he whispered and cuddled Victor close while rubbing his face against Victor's neck, scenting him. 

Victor leant into the touch and scented him in return. It was hard to pretend that the smell of alpha that clung to him wasn't there. So he decided to try and make his own scent more prominent.

"Do you still want to…? I mean, I don't have to put it inside you if it's too much." Victor's face flushed. "I can just sort it myself."

Yuuri laughed before kissing Victor with fervour. "Please make love to me, Victor. I want to know what it feels like to be loved by you," Yuuri begged huskily.

Victor nodded before shuffling out of his clothes and exposing his nakedness to Yuuri for the first time. He was a little self-conscious about the amount of scarring he had from years of being in the military, but he knew Yuuri wouldn't judge him. And he was really worried he would intimidate him with the size of his cock after what had happened to him, he felt a little as shy he gripped his cock, jerking it a couple of times to take the edge off.

Victor reached between Yuuri's legs before kissing him again. He felt terrified of fucking this up and his hands shook slightly as his heart pounded. "I'm going to put my fingers inside you," he warned him before slipping them though the slick hot liquid. Victor groaned. "You're so wet, fuck… that really turns me on…"

Yuuri bit down on his bottom lip as he adjusted to the delicious feeling of two fingers inside him. "It's because I want you so badly, Victor," Yuuri replied as he rocked his hips into the alpha's touch. "And we're going to make our pups together, aren't we? You're going to breed me, right?" The omega couldn't resist the fantasy any longer.

The words excited Victor but they also made him emotional. "Yes," he lied. "I'm going to get you pregnant and we'll have so many babies. I can't wait to see your tummy all swollen with my child. We're gonna grow old together." He reached for the omega’s hand, linking their fingers together. "We're gonna be so happy." 

Yuuri swallowed. Something sad and desperate was clawing at his chest in a way that made him pine. He wanted this. He didn't just want to imagine it. He wanted this life for him and Victor… but it was never going to happen. He squeezed Victor's hand tight in his own and tried to ignore the tears that were welling in his eyes.

"Yes, we're going to be together forever, right?" he replied with a sad smile.

"Of course," Victor said, before gently pulling his fingers out of him. He held Yuuri as if he was going to break, like something special, completely priceless because to Victor that's what he was. Victor would never love like this again. 

He grabbed his cock and very slowly he pressed it against the omega’s wet hole and started to push inside him. He was tight and hot and wet and everything and more that Victor wanted.

"Yuuri," he groaned as he bottomed out. "Are you okay?" he asked, panting slightly in an effort not to move.

"Y-yes," Yuuri whispered as he body grew accustomed to the sweet stretch of Victor's cock. "It just feels really, really big. If you can wait a few seconds, let me move first?" 

Victor immediately stilled, his heart palpitating in his chest. He couldn't bear it if he fucked this up. Yuuri needed this to be perfect.

With a grateful smile, Yuuri wiggled his hips a little to let the cock inside him place pressure in a more comfortable place before he rolled his hips with a moan. "Yes, yes, there we go," he muttered with a breathy exhale. "Right there, Victor."

Victor followed the omega’s movement, letting the other man relax back in the sheets as he mimicked what Yuuri needed. He fucked him deep and slow, holding him impossibly close and careful not to touch anywhere that would hurt him.

Victor's whole body trembled with pleasure. Yuuri felt so good around his cock as he buried himself inside him over and over. He struggled to keep his breathing steady as sweat formed on his brow. "You take my cock so well. I love fucking your virgin ass," he muttered against Yuuri's ear. "I love that I'm the only person to touch you this way. Only I can make you feel this good."

Yuuri's eyes spilled the tears he had been holding in. His desperation for this imaginary life with Victor to be real was so strong and it was almost unbearable that he knew it could never be. Pleasure was coiling tight inside him as Victor made love to him so gently and beautifully. Every inch of their skin that touched felt heavenly and perfect.

"You're too good to me," he muttered between sniffles. "My good, perfect alpha." He lifted his free hand to stroke Victor's face and then his hair, trying to memorise the way that the other man felt under his touch.

"You're my one and only," he replied before rubbing his hand over Yuuri's stomach. "And I'm gonna fill you up so good, fuck you so good that you'll get pregnant."

"Yes, baby," Yuuri replied with an eager nod. "Breed me, please. I want to give you so many little pups. I want to have a beautiful little family with you." He stifled a cry on that last word, tears streaming down his face. 

"We are," he promised and it broke his heart. "We're gonna be happy together. We were made for each other. There can never be anyone else but you. My beautiful little omega. I love you so much."

" I… l-love you," Yuuri managed between sobs as he held Victor tight against him and finally let himself grieve the life he was losing. He poured all of the emotions he felt into the sensual act that was happening between them. The way they moved together helped ease the tension in his body and soothe his desire for some happy memories. After all, this would forever be Yuuri's happiest moment.

"Alpha, kiss me please. Kiss me with all the love you have for me. Show me how much you adore me," he pleaded.

Victor kissed him without question, slowly changing the angle he was fucking him so he could push inside a little harder. His hand gripped on Yuuri's ass, holding him in place as he ravished his mouth, moaning uncontrollably against his lips. "Fuck, I love you so much," he panted before delving straight back in for a kiss.

"Yuuri, I'm gonna come," he gasped and unable to help it, he fucked him a little faster. He tried to hold back, but it was difficult when the omega made him feel so good. "I'm gonna fill you up with my come, baby," he whispered and snapped his hips forwards particularly roughly. 

"Yes, do it," Yuuri whispered back as he was lost in the exquisite pleasure of Victor's body. "Please come inside me, my sweet darling. Show me how much you love me." Yuuri himself was close to coming a second time, his limp dick suddenly hardening again.

"I love you so much. So much," Victor gasped and no longer able to hold back, he sat up. He grabbed Yuuri's cock with one hand and then rubbed his nipples with the other. "You're so fucking gorgeous. Fuck. I'm gonna fuck you like this every day for the rest of my life. Tell me you want that Yuuri, you want my cock deep inside you breeding you so full every day…"

"Y-yes," Yuuri managed to stutter as pleasure overwhelmed his body. Tears were covering his entire face now and his eyes were red from sobbing so hard, but he didn't care. "Everyday, Victor. I want you everyday for forever. Victor, I want…" Before he could finish his thought, Yuuri's orgasm blindsided him and made him scream. The stimulation of his prostate, nipple, and cock was all too much. He spurted come all over himself and struggled to breathe again afterward, his vision blurring from pleasure.

Victor stilled, grabbing Yuuri's face and forcing their eyes to lock together as he came, flooding the omega’s ass with his sticky hot come. He couldn't help it as his knot formed, he looked at Yuuri desperately as the omega’s ass throbbed around him and milked his cock. "Good boy, take it all, you're gonna be so full of my come…" Victor shoved his cock in deeper as it expanded, stretching Yuuri's hole obscenely. He could feel his come dripping from Yuuri's ass, there was so much of it that it was impossible to keep it all inside." There you go baby," he panted. "Take my come, have it all."

Yuuri's eyes were wide in shock. His previous experience of knotting had been terrifying and it hurt, but with Victor, it felt like his whole body shifted to make room, like it was opening up for the alpha. Nothing hurt, if anything Yuuri actually found it pleasurable. He started to understand why omegas liked sex so much.

Preening, Yuuri arched his back and kissed Victor's jaw, his chin, and his neck. "You're too good to me, Victor. You give me so much: your big, fat knot, your come… Everything you give me is so perfect." Fresh tears spilled down his cheeks. "Thank you, alpha. My alpha."

"My beautiful omega…" He leant forward and placed his forehead against Yuuri's. "Thank you for sharing this with me. You were perfect."

Yuuri sniffled, overcome with emotion. He rubbed at his eyes with his fist and sobbed. "I'm going to miss you," he admitted in a quiet voice. "I wish things were different."

Victor gulped thickly, emotion stuck in his throat and unwillingly, tears fell from his eyes, splashing down Yuuri's cheeks. He couldn't hold back any longer and he dissolved into tears and pulled Yuuri impossibly close. "I will never forget you."

***

Their fifteenth day together was a quiet one. Ironically, the snow had finally let up and Victor thought they could make the drive to call Yuuri's parents now, but he didn't believe Yuuri would survive the whole trip. When he checked and cleaned Yuuri's rejected mating bite, it was pulsing and throbbing with congealed and rancid flesh, as though Yuuri's skin had opted to die rather than be mated to that terrible man.

And in a way, it had, Victor supposed. No matter what dressings he used and how many antibiotics were pumped into Yuuri's system, the omega’s wound only grew worse and never better.

Though Yuuri was an omega without the strength of smell that Victor possessed, he too could taste the thick, heavy odour of death that clung to him like a second skin. This was the worst it had ever been and Yuuri tried not to fight it. He didn't have much fight left in him anyway--not anymore. 

Yuuri felt his whole body weakened and he knew this was the end. He'd slowly been losing consciousness on and off over the last few hours and even speaking was difficult. Victor was fussing over him, but Yuuri had accepted the truth: he was going to die very soon.

"V-Victor…?" he called out in a quiet voice before spluttering a little.

The alpha was frantic in his movements, however. He knew they’d been on borrowed time, but somehow this had happened all too quickly. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Yuuri. He thought he’d have more time.

"Stop. Just stop. Can you… can you just hold me?"

Victor had a lump in his throat. He gulped thickly and nodded. He felt like he was going to break down but what could he do? He needed to be strong for Yuuri. For the omega that he had come to love so much. It had been a blessing to have two weeks with him, especially considering Victor thought he would never live through that first night, but he wasn’t sure if that was more cruel or less. Was it really better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all?

He climbed into bed with him, curling his body around Yuuri’s small frame. He looked tiny, somehow swamped in the double bed he was curled up in. Victor didn’t say anything, but he kissed the back of Yuuri’s head and reached for his hand, linking their fingers together as he tried to pretend that he wasn’t hollow inside. He felt like he was dying with Yuuri.

"Do you want to know something funny?" Yuuri asked, his voice cracking and a tired smile gracing his face. "I'm not even mad anymore. Isn't that strange? I should be angry. I should be furious. I should be blaming someone or something, but I can't. I just can't anymore. And do you wanna know why?"

Victor nodded.

Yuuri turned and looked him straight in the eye as his own kept trying to flutter closed. He was struggling to stay awake again. "I can't be mad because if this didn't happen, I would have never met you," he admitted before lifting his skinny, frail hand to cup the alpha's face. "And you have been the very best thing to ever happen to me."

Victor broke. “Please, don’t say that, I couldn’t save you…”

Yuuri shook his head. "That's not true. You saved me in every way I could be saved. Some things are just out of our hands, Victor. You did everything you could. Thank you." Before he could say another word, Yuuri slipped into unconsciousness, safe and warm in Victor's arms.

“Yuuri… Yuuri…” Victor begged.

Victor wondered if this was the end. If he would drift off in his sleep. He should have moved to check. He should have given him more pain relief to help him slip away, but he couldn’t move. Instead, Victor cried, his heart broken as he thought about all the things that could have been.

He clutched the omega to his chest. He felt so small. Selfishly, Victor gripped him and scented him, trying to memorise that sweet smell that would soon he gone from his body. Sobs wracked his body as he sat up and rocked him in his arms, but Yuuri simply flopped against him, unable to hold his own body weight.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Victor cried. He buried his face into his neck, he wanted to remember the scent of that alpha against Yuuri’s neck, because he was going to find him, and he was going to make him pay. Except, when he deeply scented him, along with Yuuri’s scent and fowl dark stink of the alpha, there was something else. Victor sniffled and looked down at Yuuri’s stomach. He touched it, pressing his fingers around where the omega’s womb was and sure enough, there was a swelling.

“Yuuri, Yuuri, you have to push through. You’re pregnant. Please, we can be a family.”

But the omega did not stir. As if to add insult to injury, Victor was not only losing someone so dear to him, but any children he and Yuuri might have were dying alongside him too. A whole life that could have been was ripped away from Victor in an instant and he sobbed with grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think will happen next?


	3. Chapter 3

Exhausted and unable to keep himself awake for much longer, Victor nodded off a few seconds after checking Yuuri's weak pulse. However, when he woke up a few hours later, his nose didn't instantly crinkle in disgust at the thick stench of death in the air. Instead, he was bemused to sniff the air and find the scent of a happy, content omega. He blinked a few times before looking down to realise it was Yuuri. The young omega was still curled up against him, but he had shifted in his sleep until he was facing Victor and he had wrapped his arms around the alpha's waist.

Of all the things Victor had expected when he awoke, it wasn't for him to wake up to the omega  _ purring _ . Unwilling to wake him when he was getting such peaceful rest, Victor lay there with confusion etched across his face. He didn't understand what had happened while he was sleeping. Before he'd nodded off, Yuuri had been in such a terrible state with a pulse so weak he wasn't sure how any of his extremities were receiving oxygen and now…

Victor checked him all over as much as he could where he lay pinned. His skin seemed more flushed than pale and an adorable, happy smile adorned his face. In a last ditch attempt to understand the change, Victor lifted the dressing from his neck and saw that the wound was no longer sore and infected, in fact, it had finally begun to heal over and start scabbing. The dead skin from the night before had come away and dropped off when Victor opened the dressing.

He let out a loud, relieved laugh. He didn't know what had cured Yuuri's infected bite, but whatever it was, Victor was so very grateful.

Eventually, Victor had to pull himself out of the omega’s hold, as much as it pained him, since he needed to relieve himself and get some food. Every time Victor was away from him, he was certain that he must have made it up. That he had some kind of fever dream where Yuuri was cured and yet, whenever he returned to the bedroom, there Yuuri was sleeping soundly with a healing bite wound on his neck. It made Victor's heart soar.

Yet, one thing still bothered him: Yuuri slept for such a long time. It had been 12 hours when Victor first began to worry. After that, he checked the clock every thirty minutes and obsessively checked the omega’s vitals. He couldn't stop his hands from wandering from Yuuri's wrist and his neck to his stomach.

_ My babies,  _ Victor thought with a sad smile.  _ I know daddy is doing everything he can to hold on for you. My darling children. _

Just after the 24 hour mark, Victor had passed out next to Yuuri on the bed. He couldn’t have been asleep for more than thirty minutes before a loud gasp woke him up.

Yuuri was sitting bolt upright on the bed, staring down at his body and patting himself all over. "How am I…?" He turned and stared at Victor. "I should be dead."

"Yes," Victor replied solemnly.

"Why aren't I? What did you do?" Yuuri asked, his happy smile hesitant as he tried not to get his hopes up.

"Nothing."

Yuuri's face fell. "Then I'm still dying."

“No,” Victor said, unable to stop the smile on his face.

“No?” Yuuri repeated, his brows drawing together in confusion adorably. “What do you mean ‘no’?”

“I have no idea. I don’t know what happened. I thought you were gone but… Yuuri, the bite.... It’s healing.” He beamed at the omega. “I’ve turned things around and round in my head, and I think that maybe it was because of how you were feeling. You accepted what had happened. You were glad because it meant we could be together, even if for a short while.”

Yuuri’s mouth dropped open in shock. “And… you think that’s enough? I thought I had to accept being the feral alpha’s mate?”

“I did too, but maybe accepting the bite was enough?”

Yuuri’s mind was racing. He’d never considered that this could happen--that he might be able to live somehow. “It’s got to be a trick. I don’t believe it,” Yuuri muttered, his hand going up to his neck. Instead of feeling pain at the touch, instead Yuuri felt  _ nothing _ . “But… if it is real…” He looked around and met Victor’s eyes with his own. “That means we can be together?” His heart pounded as his hopefulness grew uncontrollably.

Completely overwhelmed at the possibility, Victor suddenly became emotional, tears flooded his eyes as he nodded. “I want that more than anything,” he sobbed, pulling Yuuri into an embrace. “I mean, we’re not out of the clear,” he continued, not wanting to make the omega think that things would be perfect from now on, “I’m not 100%, but your chances are so much better and now there’s time to get you to a hospital and get a second opinion at least. We might be able to find a specialist.”

Yuuri nodded, his own eyes welling with tears as he felt hope for the first time in almost two weeks. “Yes, let’s do that. I hope…” he trailed off, crying in spite of himself. “I hope this isn’t the end. I know, if I am going to live, it’ll mean that I have the mark of another alpha… But you don’t care right? I’ll still be yours?”

Victor gripped Yuuri firmly. “You’re already mine as long as you want to be. I promised forever, didn’t I?” The alpha held the time that they had made love close to his heart. For him, it meant everything. He wanted everything the two of them had said in their night of passion. “Plus, there’s something else...” He paused, wondering whether to tell him now or to keep it to himself.

_ Keeping it to yourself would be wrong, even if you are trying to protect him from more stress. _

Victor hoped he would be happy at the news that he was pregnant but Yuuri was on such an intense course of antibiotics. He hoped that it hadn’t hurt the babies, though, if he had to choose between Yuuri and the pregnancy, he would choose Yuuri 1000 times over. They could try again for children, but they couldn’t do that if Yuuri didn’t survive. He just hoped the omega would feel the same and not blame Victor for harming the pregnancy with the medication he had given him.

“I’m a little nervous to say this, and it’s going to be complicated, but ultimately, I have to tell you because it’s your body. And I know something that you don’t about it which isn’t fair. You need to know… Honestly, I’ve never been more scared in my life,” he said, wiping away a few stray tears.

Yuuri's heart raced in his chest. His eyes widened. "Oh God, what is it? Is it bad?" Yuuri asked in a frenzy, his breath coming in short, sharp pants now. 

Victor took a deep breath and tried to calm his heart.  _ What if he hates me? What if he didn’t mean it?  _ “I believe you may be pregnant.”

Yuuri's heart stopped. His eyes watered and he looked down at his stomach before pressing a ginger hand to the slight swell there. "I'm… I'm pregnant?" he whispered as he began to rub his belly in circles. "It's not… They can't be from the other alpha, right? You checked before, right? They aren't his are they?" he asked in a panicked voice before looking up at Victor with wide, wet eyes.

“I promise you showed no signs of pregnancy before. Now you do, about five days to be exact. But I’m not sure about the effects of the medication I’ve given you though. I want to be honest with you, I feel so conflicted. I mean, what if I’ve hurt them?” He sniffled.

Yuuri's heart sank at the thought, but he had to be strong. Victor needed him. "If I died, they would die too," Yuuri reasoned. "We had to do everything in our power to keep me going, otherwise they'd never even have a chance. Please, don't blame yourself."

“I know, I just can’t help but feel like I haven’t done enough. I know that’s insane, because I promise I’ve tried my best, but… I just can’t help but feel like what I’ve done is good enough for you. I love you so much. I don’t want to have fucked this up.”

Yuuri placed a hand on Victor's own and squeezed it. "You haven't fucked anything up, Victor. You've given your blood, sweat and tears for me--literally. You're my saviour," Yuuri implored with a sweet smile before leaning in and pressing a gentle kiss to Victor's lips. "Let's not be sad right now. In this moment, we have hope that I might make it through this nightmare and we'll have our babies like we spoke about… Even if it's a little soon." He laughed. "I never even thought you could get pregnant from one time, you know?"

“I know, it’s like it was meant to be, huh? This whole situation is amazing when you think about it,” Victor said, feeling so very lucky. “Do you want to hear their heartbeats?” he asked, reaching for a stethoscope off the table and then putting it on.

“You can do that?” Yuuri asked in surprise, his hand holding his stomach, which was definitely bigger than it had been when he had passed out over 24 hours ago.

“Yes, of course,” Victor said. He pressed the cool metal against Yuuri’s stomach and listened, trying to locate the heartbeats. He found one very strong one to the left of Yuuri’s belly button, and then other which was in a more awkward place higher up. “Here,” he said, holding it firmly in place and then removing the earpieces. He handed it to Yuuri who unsurely put it on, not really knowing what to expect.

_ Ba boom, ba boom, ba boom. _

The omega gasped softly. “Victor,” he said in amazement, his voice hushed as he was reluctant to muffle the sound for even a second. “I can hear it. I can hear our baby.”

Victor nodded, teary eyed. “Yes, I know.” He moved the stethoscope to the other side of Yuuri’s stomach and pressed down again.

_ Ba bum, ba bum, ba bum. _

"This is wonderful," Yuuri expressed with a smile.

Victor agreed. He had heard the heartbeats of hundreds of babies over the years but none as magical as this. The love and trust, the determination and the passion between them had created these two tiny little lives. It was possibly the most profound experience of Victor’s life.

"We were meant to be,” Yuuri continued. “I feel it." He leaned in closer, resting his head on Victor's chest as he still listened to the soft, rapid heartbeat. "I'm so happy we found each other."

“Well, Makkachin found you, actually.” Victor laughed, wrapping his arms around Yuuri and placing a soft kiss to his head.

"Ah, well then, I'll make sure to get him some nice treats as soon as I can," Yuuri replied playfully with a smile. "Makkachin the matchmaker," he mused thoughtfully. "It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

“Wonderful, sweetheart.”

***

The snow eventually settled, and with it, Victor’s phone signal returned. He was delighted that he could finally call for help and get some advice. They had talked about it and Yuuri wanted Victor to call as soon as possible. So, as Yuuri lay sleeping, still weak but now recovering, Victor called the police and explained what had happened over the last 20 or so days, keeping his voice hushed so as not to disturb Yuuri. He still needed all the rest he could get.

“Hi, yes, I’d like to report a crime, please,” he said. “I found an omega on my land 20 days ago that had been forcefully mated.”

The line was silent for a moment. “I’ll send an officer immediately, sir, can you give me your address?”

Victor gave them his GPS coordinates and then he sat and waited in the living room, his eyes fixed on the front door as he tried to keep his anxiety under control. He felt like he might tip over the edge at any minute. The operator asked him all sorts of questions while he was waiting for the police to attend and she was gobsmacked to hear that Yuuri was alive and well.

Even though he had been expecting it, when the knock came he jumped out of his skin before hurrying to answer it. He thanked the operator for her time and then hung up the phone. He was greeted by an officer, a mountain ranger and a couple of paramedics. He let them inside.

“Mr Nikiforov?” Victor nodded and invited them to sit down. The paramedics started to unpack their equipment, but for the moment, they let the officer speak. “We got here so soon as we were already in the area. That omega is very lucky to be alive. He’s the third omega that’s been reported this morning, but he’s the only one who survived,” he explained.

“We’ve captured a feral alpha this morning who we believe is responsible. He’s at the hospital and receiving treatment, so we won’t know until our swabs come back,” the ranger continued. “We’re not sure if there’s any others, but we were gonna get in touch with you this morning as one was on the border of your land. We need permission to search your land for any others.”

It was a lot to take in at once. It had never even entered his mind that the alpha may have attacked other omegas too. And another omega had died on his land? He felt terrible. He’d managed to save Yuuri but because he hadn’t hunted the alpha, he had continued to hunt. “Oh God, I… I didn’t know. My dog found Yuuri, he was half dead when I found him. I didn’t know there had been other victims, that he would attack more. Oh God, I should have stopped him...”

“Well, someone tried to stop him, we found him with a bullet in his shoulder.”

Immediately, Victor remembered aiming in the dark as he heard something. He gasped in surprise. “That might have been me! When I was looking for my dog I shot something. I thought it was a bear or a wolf, it smelt starving.”

“Well if it was you, then you managed to save God knows how many omegas. This guy was completely out of it. Fella had no clue what he was doing.” Victor nodded. He didn’t truly blame the alpha. How could he if he was feral? He would have had no control over his actions. He probably had not hurt any of the omegas deliberately. But still he couldn't help but feel anger at such atrocities being committed against those poor, defenseless omegas--against  _ his _ Yuuri. Victor had been trying to contain his protective nature over Yuuri while other people touched him and treated him, but now he felt like he could let it out as he thought of the person who had abused and harmed his love. It was even more of a thrill to hear that Victor’s panicked shot had disabled his savage behaviour.

“We were very surprised to hear you have an omega here alive and well,” one of the paramedics said.

“As I said on the phone, I was an army doctor. I had medicine and supplies. I managed to treat the worst of it. He’s probably going to need to go to the hospital though.”

“Of course, let’s get him sorted.” Victor stood and led the way to his bedroom, nervous at handing over Yuuri’s care but knowing that he was doing the right thing.

***

After the doctors confirmed that by some miracle Yuuri was out of the woods, the police took his statement from the hospital bed. It was difficult to recall the events in detail for them, but Yuuri tried his best with Victor by his side to report the crime and to see justice done. Since the alpha was in custody and DNA evidence had been taken from the other omegas, it was likely he was going to be locked away for rehabilitation regardless of Yuuri's statement, but it still felt good to get justice for the trauma he had suffered.

It was a long week. With the hospital being so far away, Yuuri had only spent one day there and the other six had been spent travelling there and back. So, when the two of them returned home from the hospital, Yuuri was officially exhausted. When Victor had mentioned about dinner, the pregnant omega asked if he could take it in his room so he didn't have to get up. Of course, Victor agreed before running off to see to the meal.

While he was gone, however, it gave Yuuri a lot of time to think about the whole situation. He had lifted his shirt up and was rubbing the prominent swell of his belly, attempting to) soothe and comfort the children inside. But as he thought about his puppies growing inside him, Yuuri couldn't help but wonder about their future.

He was happy about having them with Victor, of course, but the circumstances were difficult to say the least. For the first few years, puppies were very instinctual and it was one of the reasons why adoption was so rarely an option. If the puppies could not scent and smell their birth giver, they would begin to experience separation anxiety, confusion, and sadness. It was such a strong instinct that babies could not be held or taken away by anyone else for at least the first six months. But there was one exception: their alpha. Puppies learned through their birth giver's mating bond who their father was… But Yuuri was not mated to Victor.

As he thought more and more about it, Yuuri bit at his fingernails and tried to think of ways around it. He wanted Victor to be close to the children and the children to understand that he was their real father, but how could he do that with some random alpha's claim on his body? His unease grew and grew and grew until he could taste the thick scent of sadness in the air around him. 

That was how Victor found him 45 minutes later as he stepped into the room with a tray of food. He immediately could smell the sadness. He placed the tray on the bedside cabinet and then sat on the bed with Yuuri. “Are you okay? Was it the nightmares?” he asked.

Instantly, Yuuri tensed up and shook his head. “No… Not nightmares this time…” He hesitated. He didn’t want to lie to Victor, but he also wasn’t quite sure how to voice his worries. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry. Thanks for dinner.” 

The response made him feel awkward, Yuuri seemed to have closed off to him. He was already fucking this up. “I… I’m sorry, did I…” Had Victor upset Yuuri? Had he changed his mind?

“No, it’s not you,” Yuuri replied and sighed. “I’m just… Things are so complicated and I’m struggling to get my head around all this. In less than a months time, we’re going to have children! I… It’s a little overwhelming. I keep worrying about…” He trailed off and his eyes fell to his lap.

“Worrying?” Dark thoughts trickled into the back of his mind. Maybe Yuuri thought that Victor couldn’t provide for him. After all, he’d been there almost a month now and he was yet to get Yuuri some clothes of his own. God, he should be buying things for the babies… “We didn’t really talk about finances and such, before… but I promise we’re secure and I want to make you so happy. As soon as you feel ready we can head into the next town and get things for the babies.”

“Oh,” Yuuri replied, a little surprised at Victor’s words. “God, I hadn’t even thought of that. It’s a good thing you have money because I don’t!” Yuuri laughed a little before reaching out and taking Victor’s hand in his own. “No, I’ve been worrying about… Well, puppies learn who their alpha is from the mating bond, right?”

“Of course,” Victor replied instantly, wondering where Yuuri was going with this. “Babies can recognise the scent of their alpha as soon as they are out of the womb…”

“But the mating bond I have… it isn’t yours.” Tears started to well in Yuuri’s eyes. “The babies are going to think… They’re going to think…” He burst into tears.

Victor had been so incredibly stupid. He felt like the worst alpha in the world. “Yuuri, I’m so sorry! Baby, I… I kind of assumed that you would want me to claim you… I was just waiting for things to settle down a little. I’m sorry, I should have explained.”

Immediately, Yuuri’s tears stopped and he looked up at the alpha dumbfounded. “Oh,” was all he could say, feeling like every worry he’d had before had dissipated. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cry. I think it’s the hormones,” Yuuri apologised. “Do you really want to claim me? Even though I’ve already been claimed before?”

“Oh Yuuri, I’ve been worried you wouldn’t want  _ me  _ to claim you. You’re so young and beautiful and I’m just so fucked up but… I promise to try, I promise to love you every day and our babies. If you’ll give me a chance? What happened to you… I wish I could take it from you, but I can’t. But I’ll protect you, I swear. I’d be honored to claim you.”

He took Yuuri’s hand and kissed it, smiling up at him.

Yuuri smiled wide and happy. “I can’t believe it. I never thought I’d ever be this happy!” One of his hands fell to his big, round belly and he grinned. “I’m so excited to start a new life with you and our puppies.”

“Me neither, I… I keep thinking that this isn’t real, that you wouldn’t want someone like me, but I can’t bear the thought of letting you go. Since I’ve met you, you’ve made me feel things that I never thought I would get the chance to experience with you. I… I’m honestly so in love with you.”

Yuuri’s heart raced and he leaned forward to wrap his arms around Victor. “I’m honestly so in love with you too, sweetheart,” he whispered before pressing a loving kiss to the alpha’s lips. “Why don’t you show me just how much you love me?”

Victor felt like he was glowing from within from such beautiful words. He immediately kissed Yuuri back, cupping his face and trying to convey everything he felt for him. Yuuri felt so precious in his arms. He couldn’t believe that Yuuri wanted him, that Yuuri was pregnant with his child and that he got to experience this with him. Victor was so happy and he couldn’t help but smile as he kissed him.

Enthusiastically, Yuuri kissed back and clambered into Victor’s lap, wrapping his arms around his neck as he moved. “I can’t believe this is happening,” the omega whispered against his lover’s lips as he took a break for air. “I’m so lucky.” He dived back in to kiss Victor again, opening his mouth to allow Victor inside.

“I think we both are." It was so true. Victor had never believed something more. He had honestly believed that he would never find love, that no one could ever love him because of how broken he was and now here was Yuuri. Beautiful, brave, strong Yuuri who saw Victor, mental health and all, and loved him anyway. 

Victor was starting to believe that everything in his life had led him to this moment. If he had never joined the armed forces, never trained as a medic, never went through the trauma that had wrecked him, then he wouldn't be here in Willowdale and with Yuuri. Going through what he had, even though it had destroyed him, had given him a very specific skill set that had saved the omega’s life. Because of the pain he had gone through, now new life was being created. He was having two miracle babies with the man he loved. Two of many more to come in the future. Victor had never been happier.

"I love you so much," Victor whispered and reached for Yuuri's baby bump, rubbing his hand over the smooth swollen skin. "I can't wait to make love to you. I never stopped thinking about that night. The first time."

"M-me too," Yuuri admitted with a blush as he tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. "It was the very best night of my life."

“That makes me so happy, sweetheart. I’m so happy that we shared that, and I’m even happier that I get to love you like this over and over.” He kissed down Yuuri’s jawline and to his neck, biting playful kisses into Yuuri’s neck. “And I’m so honored that I get to claim you, that I get to put my bite on your pretty neck.” He kissed to the other side, gently mouthing kisses over the scar of the old bite, lovingly caressing the now healed skin.

Every touch to his skin was setting his nerves on fire. Yuuri couldn’t help but lean into every kiss and let out breathy moans as the alpha gave him such sweet pleasure. “Oh, Victor, I can’t wait for you to bite me…” he whimpered. “I’ve been craving it…”

The words caused arousal to twist deep inside the alpha. The fact Yuuri had been thinking it and wanting it so badly turned him on so much, he was pretty sure he had never been so aroused in his life. Victor couldn’t stop kissing him, he couldn’t stop touching him.

He let his hands run down Yuuri’s soft hips and to his ass where he pulled him ever closer. “You feel so good in my arms,” he admitted.

The scent of aroused alpha was so heady and thick in the air around him that it caused Yuuri’s chest to rumble in contentment. He rocked his hips a little and bit into his bottom lip. “I bet I can make you feel even better,” he replied huskily in a voice that did not match the embarrassed flush of his cheeks.

Victor flushed at the comment. He wanted this. He wanted everything Yuuri wanted and more. “I want you. I want you in every way possible,” he murmured against his lips.

With a moan, Yuuri kissed him deeper and wrapped his arms a little tighter around the alpha beneath him. “Make love to me, alpha?” he asked in a quiet, sultry voice as his big brown eyes stared hungrily at Victor.

“I can’t wait to be inside you again…” Victor groaned with a sharp thrust upwards of his hips, grinding his cock upwards against Yuuri’s ass. “You make me so hard.”

Yuuri practically melted. He'd never wanted anyone so much in his life and it felt like he couldn't hold back anymore. Yuuri reached for the hem of his own t-shirt and pulled it up before discarding it behind him. "Touch me, Victor. Take me. I'm all yours."

Victor let his eyes drag over Yuuri’s revealed chest and his heart was warm from the fact the bruises were gone. Any marks on Yuuri now would be from Victor. He pulled his own shirt off and then dove back in for a kiss. Victor stood, gripping Yuuri firmly by his thighs as he turned and lay the omega down on the bed.

Yuuri fell back with a huff of breath and bit down on his bottom lip in anticipation. He reached up to pull Victor down on top of him before he wrapped his legs around the other man’s hips. “You don’t have to be so gentle this time,” Yuuri admitted in a whisper. “Just do whatever you want with me, alpha.”

Victor smirked, a thrill running through him at the thought. “Yeah? Are you sure you can handle it, baby?”

The omega nodded eagerly. "Yes, please. I can take it."

Victor eagerly shimmied out of his jeans and then helped Yuuri take off his lounge pants and underwear. The omegas cock was flushed and Victor felt his mouth water at the sight.

"Do you want me to make you come first, sweetheart?" he asked as he sunk to his knees and began kissing his way down Yuuri's baby bump and to his cock.

Unable to stop himself, Yuuri felt his cock twitch and his ass leak sweet-smelling slick at the sight of Victor on his knees for him. "Oh God, Victor…" he moaned and watched with avid attention as his lover kissed his thighs. "Your mouth always feels so good…"

As if to prove a point, the alpha licked the length of Yuuri's cock and looked up at the omega as he wrapped his lips around the head. He sucked, tonguing at the slit and moaning as the taste of the omega’s precome.

Yuuri's body already felt on edge from being close to Victor and now that the alpha was sucking his cock, Yuuri felt helpless to do anything but lie back and take it. He moaned and cried out with every lap of Victor's tongue and grew close far too quickly.

Victor felt amazing with his mouth full of Yuuri's cock. He pulled off, moaning as he licked downwards, sucking on the omegas balls. Unexpectedly, he grabbed Yuuri's legs and hoisted them up to expose his hole. He moaned at the sight, Yuuri's hole was pink and wet and without giving the omega time to realise what was happening, he licked it, pressing his tongue against the sensitive place and then slipping it inside. 

"Oh my God! Victor, what are you…?" Yuuri cried out before trailing off with a moan of delight. The alpha's tongue was warm and wet and exploring inside him like he was enjoying himself. Feeling wanted and loved like that only made Yuuri more aroused and he felt his balls tighten with his oncoming orgasm.

"Oh God, Victor, I'm gonna…" 

Victor groaned and gripped at Yuuri's ass, forcing his cheeks open wider so he could get deeper inside his delicious hole. He felt the omega throb, his ass tightening for a second before slick flooded from him. Victor pulled back, his mouth soaked, slick dripping from his chin. He admired Yuuri's hole again.

"Please, Victor, don't stop. I'm so close," the omega begged as his whole body ached for the climax so cruelly denied to him.

Victor couldn't resist the temptation, he slipped two fingers into his ass. He was so hot inside that Victor's fingers felt like they were burning as he pressed deep and then slowly started to fuck him with his fingers as he watched his pretty pink cock twitch.

Yuuri groaned and squirmed, feeling totally overwhelmed by Victor's stimulation of his hole and yet, desperate for something - anything - to touch his cock. He felt like he was going to burst as he whined and wriggled against Victor's touch. "P-please," he begged prettily, tears coming to his eyes. "J-just a little more."

"Fuck, you beg so beautifully. How can I say no?" Victor asked before shoving another finger into his hole and then taking his cock into his mouth. He eagerly sucked him down over and over, desperate for Yuuri to come down his throat.

It was all too much for the poor, inexperienced omega. His whole body trembled as he came. His hot, sticky come spilled down Victor's throat while he arched his back and screamed his alpha's name.

Victor pulled off with a self satisfied smirk before immediately standing and pressing his cock against Yuuri's hole. He wanted to push inside him but he had heard Yuuri beg and now he wanted more. He wondered what filthy words could slip from the omegas mouth. He pressed the tip against him, just slowly opening him with it but not pushing inside.

Still reeling from his mindblowing orgasm, Yuuri struggled to string his words together properly. Instead, he resorted to whining impatiently and rocking his hips to try and get what he wanted from Victor and when that didn't work, he felt desperate.

"Victor, please put it in. I need it so bad. Please, alpha, claim me completely. I need it."

"You want my cock inside you, baby? Ask me again, beg me."

Tears spilled from Yuuri's eyes in frustration and desperation. "Please, I beg you. Put your cock inside me, alpha. I really, really want it so bad. Your cock is so big and thick and my ass is so empty. Please."

Victor's face flushed and his heart picked up in excitement at such dirty words. He slowly started to ease his cock inside and he felt like his breath was stolen. He had forgotten how perfect the omega felt around his cock, how tight and wet and warm he was.

"Yes," Yuuri hissed as he felt the pure pleasure of being split open and stretched by his lover’s throbbing cock. His eyes rolled back in his head and he let out a long moan. "Fuck, Victor, you feel so good inside me. I never want to let you pull out."

"I'm not going to. You feel so good. I'm going to keep going until I’m finished using your tight little ass." As he spoke, Victor started to fuck him deep and reached for Yuuri's hand to lace their fingers together.

Yuuri couldn’t hold back the moans that fell from his lips. He gripped Victor’s hand tight and tried to rock his hips in time with the other man’s thrusts, desperate to push his cock deeper and deeper. Their hot, sweating bodies pressed against one another deliciously, creating heat and leading Yuuri further and further down into his base, omega instincts.

“Feels so good. Oh God. Don’t stop,” the whiny bottom purred as he wrapped his legs tighter around Victor’s hips.

Victor gripped at him desperately as he sunk his cock into him over and over. He stared down at Yuuri’s neck, at the scar that sat rather messily on his neck. With time, it would fade, but it would never completely disappear. Victor licked his lips and leant forwards to suck across it as he fantasized about sinking his teeth into it and covering that mark.

Yuuri practically howled in pleasure. He was so desperate for Victor to bite him and claim him. He didn’t want to wait any longer. “Please, alpha, claim me,” he begged.

Never feeling more sure of something in his life, Victor gently lined his teeth over the old claiming bite and then for the first time in his life, he bit down hard. As soon as his teeth broke Yuuri’s skin, he felt electricity running under his skin and for a second he could feel Yuuri as if the two of them were connected. He could feel the sharp pain in his neck and the euphoria of the bite, the happiness he felt and the pleasure of being connected to Victor. His heartbeat was loud as it echoed in the alpha’s mind. In that moment, he had never felt so connected to another person. The two of them were now bonded together and they knew it would be forever.

“Yuuri,” he panted as he finally let go. It took him a second to catch his breath before he started to clean the wound by licking over it gently. “Is it okay? Can you feel me?” he asked in a whisper, desperate to hear confirmation that Yuuri could feel this too, that the connection was running both ways and had been accepted.

But Yuuri couldn’t bring himself to form words. His mind was reeling with the wonderful pleasure he felt in the unbreakable bond created between himself and Victor. Inside him, he felt warm and safe and loved and it was such a heady feeling that Yuuri felt like he might drown. He took Victor’s hand and placed it on his swollen belly with a wordless motion.

“I… I can feel you,” Yuuri finally admitted. “You feel like you’re mine and I feel like I’m yours…” He leaned up and took Victor’s mouth in a desperate, fiery kiss that conveyed all the passion he felt in that moment.

“I love you, I love you so much,” Victor whispered against his lips. Tears were falling down his face as he became overwhelmed with love for the omega. It tipped him over the edge and he came, burying himself deeply into the man he loved as he began to knot him.

Yuuri cried out in pleasure as Victor’s cock swelled and filled him up beautifully. He clung with sweating arms around his lover, rolling his hips and pushing Victor’s knot deeper inside until they were locked together. “I love you too, alpha. My alpha,” Yuuri moaned and hugged him tight.

Victor held him close and reached between them to play with Yuuri’s cock. He wanted to feel him come around his knot. He jerked him off, enjoying touching his hot little cock. “Give me your come, baby, I want you to come,” he growled in his very best alpha voice.

Unable to resist the thrall of Victor’s deep, gravelly voice, Yuuri came with a scream all over himself and Victor. It spurted out more than Yuuri had ever came in his life before and caused his whole body to shudder and tingle with pleasure.

Victor gripped at Yuuri and grabbed his face, pulling him into a deep and passionate kiss. "Yes, good boy," Victor praised happy as his hand was soaked in his come. "I love it when you cover me in your come." Obsessively, Victor began rubbing the come into their skin, over Yuuri's pregnant belly and his own hands. 

Yuuri whimpered and closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against Victor's. "Me too. I love it when you come inside me, alpha. I hope you give me lots and lots of puppies," he whispered.

Victor had never heard of something so wonderful in his life. “Yes, I want that. I want you. All of you,” he vowed. "Forever."

"Forever," Yuuri agreed.

***

In the excitement of his recovery, his pregnancy, and his new mate, Yuuri had forgotten one crucial and exciting detail. When he awoke the next day after their claiming, Yuuri was ravenous. As he scoffed down two bowls of cereal, he reached for Victor's cellphone with a wide smile on his face. Unwilling to put it off any longer, Yuuri dialled.

"Moshi moshi?" came the woman's tired voice as she answered the phone.

"Mama!" Yuuri cried excitedly with a mouth full of cocoa puffs. "You'll never believe what I'm going to tell you!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the conclusion of the story. The final chapter will be an epilogue posted on Sunday as promised. A few notes from Victurius are included below if you're interested! Thanks for reading. We hope you enjoyed!
> 
> **Victurius **\- There was one thing I was adamant about when discussing this plot idea with plisetskytrash and that was that the resolution needed to come from Yuuri and no one else. Naturally, Victor did play a huge role in supporting him and caring for him, but ultimately, it was Yuuri's acceptance of the abuse he suffered and his willingness to let go of any anger or resentment for it in light of finding happiness afterwards that cured the infected bite.
> 
> I personally feel that a very important message for any victims of abuse, depression or trauma is one of hope and choice. Abuse takes away our agency, it takes away our ability to dream, and it can destroy our happiness, but it isn't the end. There are endless possibilities in this life and this fic was intended to demonstrate that.
> 
> There are a few metaphors in this fic that I included with the intention of them being synonymous with my own symptoms after abuse. One of these was Yuuri's 'infected bite'. It was forced upon him and festered uncontrollably afterward. This was intended to represent his depression. It was something that was literally killing him, stripping away his hope for a happy future. In real life, trauma and abuse can feel like they will never heal and will prevent us from being happy. It can feel like a festering wound that will never go away. It can feel like you're drowning, you're dying, and there is no cure.
> 
> This is why it was so important that Victor or the babies were not seen as the 'fix'. Yuuri himself needed to want to move past it. He had to see that what happened (while it was tragic) was ultimately okay because it gave him the life he has now, one he would not have had otherwise. In this way, victims of abuse can accept their past without forgiving it or burying it, but instead, understanding that it cannot be changed and the important thing in life is what we can do right here and now.
> 
> I've babbled on for a long time and this fic is honestly my baby. I could say a lot more, so if anyone wants to chat please just say so in the comments!


	4. Epilogue

Victor’s heart was hammering in his chest. He didn’t know how to feel. He was excited, afraid, and nervous energy thrummed under his skin. He gripped Yuuri’s hips from behind, rubbing gentle circles into the bottom of his back as he tried to comfort him.

“You're doing great, Yuuri,” he assured him as the omega leant forward, resting his head on the edge of the inflatable pool as two of them hugged together closely inside the warm water.

“Breathe, honey, breathe,” Mama Katsuki said, resting her head against her son’s as his hands bruised her arms with his grip. “It’s okay.” She looked him in the eye as she spoke calmly to him and Yuuri listened to her. Victor smiled at her gratefully. He was so happy she was here.

"I… I don't think I can do this," Yuuri groaned as he felt his stomach clench uncomfortably, something twisting and tight inside him, a kind of tension that he hadn’t experienced before and he struggled to cope with the severity of it. There was no break, no relief, just pain and tension. "I can't… I can't…" The pain was nauseating and Yuuri could feel his heart rate rising, a panic attack imminent.

“No, you’ve got this,” his mum replied firmly, forcing him to lock eyes with her again. “Baby, look at me. Yuuri,” she insisted. The calming voice of his mother encouraged the omega to lift his eyes but even looking upwards was an effort and took a lot of energy. “Trust your body, Yuuri,” she continued, “trust your babies. You can do this. You  _ have  _ to do this. No-one can do this but  _ you _ . You were  _ made  _ to do this. Me and Victor are right here, baby, okay?”

Yuuri nodded in response. "I need to see Victor, please," he moaned as another spasm of pain took over in his lower abdomen. "I don't think I can do this if I can't see him." 

Victor couldn’t move, he was behind Yuuri and monitoring the babies as well as Yuuri’s progress. He was stuck where he was. “Yuuri, I’m right here, okay?” he told him. “I’ve got to stay here because the babies facing the wrong way, remember?”

It was hard to remember anything when he had no concept of time and couldn’t focus on anything but the feeling inside him. It was like an out of body experience.

“Come here, honey, come here.” Victor pulled him back against his bare chest, his hands cupping around Yuuri’s baby bump and stroking it as the two of them kneeled in the warm water. He kissed him over his mating bond and flooded him with pheromones in an attempt to calm him. He’d given Yuuri pain relief but he was too far past the point of it really doing anything.

Yuuri let out a long, slow breath as relief and calmness washed over him from Victor’s scent. He felt his tense muscles loosen for a moment before another powerful contraction hit him and his face screwed up in pain. He tensed all over. "Oh God, Victor, it hurts…"

Hiroko gripped at her son’s hands. “Breathe through the pain, Yuuri, breathe deeply with me.” She locked eyes with him again and breathed in example. “These babies need you to stay calm, okay? Victor is taking care of you and mama's got you, okay?” She breathed again in for a few seconds steadily, and then back out again. “Accept the pain, Yuuri. Accept the contractions. Every contraction is bringing you closer to your babies. You can do this.”

Victor continued kissing him as he placed the stethoscope against his stomach, searching for the two heartbeats. Baby two was calm and appeared to be in a good position still, but baby one was almost crowning, he could hear the heartbeat stuttering deep in the pit of Yuuri’s stomach and towards his lower back.

Suddenly, a strong feeling swept through Yuuri that was powerful enough to take his breath from him. It started in his stomach and ran downwards like lightning, and suddenly it felt like he was being torn in half. Pain radiated from his hips and back as it felt as if they were being pushed apart.

Through the haze of pain, Yuuri shook and cried out, attempting to move but there was no relief, no matter what he did.

“Yuuri, you need to push,” Victor demanded as he heard baby one’s heartbeat start to slow. He shuffled backwards in the pool to try and see how the baby was getting on and he was proud to see several inches of the baby’s hair.

“Yuuri, push, I can see the baby's head!” he said excitedly. “You're so close, push harder. A big, big push.”

For the first time since his labour started, Yuuri pushed aside his fears and closed his eyes. He focused on Victor's voice and doing as he was told. He grounded himself with the feeling of the warm water lapping around his waist, his mother's hands in his, and Victor's steady hands holding him tight.

With another groan and a clench of his hands, Yuuri pushed as hard as he could.

“Good boy, just like that,” Victor encouraged, “good boy.” He could see how hard Yuuri was pushing but the baby did not budge and it remained where it was, crowning and the heartbeat slowing as it became distressed. “Yuuri, push!” he demanded, for the first time since he had met him, using his alpha voice on the omega to shock him into action.

It worked because Yuuri got a burst of energy from Victor’s command. He could do this. He wanted this more than anything. So he pushed and pushed until he felt something slide down inside him. An immense sense of relief washed over him for a moment. His eyes flew open and tears were pricking his eyes.

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it!” Victor exclaimed excitedly. The baby was small and female, but she looked healthy and had all ten fingers and toes, she cried softly as Victor held her awkwardly for a moment, having caught her. He immediately held his crying daughter to his chest, sharing the heat of his body and the warmth of the pool with her. He attempted to comfort her, scenting her face.

"Is that the first one?" Yuuri asked shakily while contractions still shook body. He was out of breath and his throat hurt from groaning so much. Had he really just had a baby? Feeling confused he looked down, searching for the babe. “Victor have you got the baby?” he asked, feeling a little panicked.

“Yes, Yuuri, I’ve got her here. We’ve got a baby girl. She’s perfect.” Victor gripped her close, one arm holding her while he checked the cord over. It was thick and healthy and intact, still connected to Yuuri. He thought about cutting it, but then he didn’t know how long it would take for Yuuri to have baby number two. What if it was hours? Leaving the placenta attached would mean the baby would still receive goodness and Yuuri could concentrate on the labour of the next baby.

"Is she okay?" Yuuri asked.

The first thing that came to Victor’s mind was, “She’s perfect.”

“Well done, Yuuri, well done,” Hiroko congratulated him and Yuuri felt pride swell in his chest. “Breathe while you can, honey, catch your breath,” she said, passing an open bottle of water to him. “Drink drink,” she encouraged, basically shoving it in his face.

Yuuri took the plastic bottle and tipped it up, happily drinking it down and then taking a deep breath as another contraction hit him. "I think the next baby is coming," he muttered under his breath. He clenched his teeth together as an uncomfortable tug pulled at his insides until it felt like they were being dragged out of him. "Victor!" he cried as he began to push in time with his contractions again, except it was different, he couldn’t feel the solid presence of the babies head, he just felt like there was something, but he didn’t know what. He tried to push but there was nothing to grip onto and it threw him off.

“Not a baby, sweetheart,” Victor told him fondly. “It’s the placenta, do you need help?” he asked, tugging gently on the cord and hoping to encourage it down. He helped Yuuri deliver the placenta slowly as Hiroko handed him a bunch of towels. They wrapped the baby up securely and then wrapped up the placenta too, sure not to damage the precious life source. Victor passed the carefully wrapped bundle over to her grandma and she took her with pride.

“Sweet baby girl, come meet your other daddy,” she said, her eyes full of tears. “Oh God, Yuuri she’s wonderful.”

When Yuuri got his first glimpse at the darling baby girl in his mother's arms, he couldn't help but weep. Everything became a lot to think about and reality hit him in the face. He’s just had a baby. He’d had a baby with Victor. His mum was here and they were all together. This was his family. He reached a shaking hand out to stroke her soft face and let out a happy sigh. "She's the most amazing thing ever," he croaked, his throat thick with emotion. "I can't believe we made her." 

“We did it together,” Victor replied feeling in awe of what was happening, “You’re amazing, Yuuri. I love you so much.” It was so much, everything was so much. It was messy, painful, emotional and Victor felt such a profound bond to Yuuri as he witnessed him bring life into the world that it made him want to cry.

“Victor, I love her.”

“I know, Yuuri, and I love her,” he assured him, meaning every word. “I love you both so much.” 

Victor gave Yuuri a kiss on the cheek before placing the stethoscope back against Yuuri’s swollen stomach to check the progress of baby number two. The heartbeat was steady and Victor was sure that it was head down. “And baby number two is going to be with us shortly, it’s engaged, Yuuri. Get ready,” he said as he scented him obsessively.

Yuuri could believe it as the pressure on his back and hips suddenly felt explosive, he felt like he was going to break and he cried out in pain, reaching behind him to find Victor’s hands. The pain was worse than before which he hadn’t thought was possible. It felt so different and he was tired. He didn’t know how he was going to do this. He scrambled in the need to turn around and to see Victor’s face and as soon as he did, he held onto him, crying into his alpha’s neck, dragging in rapid breaths as his hands trembled and his body attempted to curl in on itself.

“Yuuri, push, you can do this, I can see the baby,” his mum encouraged.

Victor rubbed over Yuuri’s bump where the baby was sat and held Yuuri up. “Come on, sweetheart, we’re excited to meet you. Come and meet your sister, you can do it. Your daddies are waiting for you out here.”

After a few more shaky breaths, Yuuri felt the sensation of something ripping through him, burning him, he felt like he was on fire and surely something must have been wrong to feel so much pain until -- he gripped his mother's hand tight and screamed as he pushed. The second baby slipped out of him with Victor's hands waiting and ready to grab it. The baby splashed into the water and Victor gripped it, slowly bringing it up and out of the water gently as not to startle the babe.

"Is the second baby okay?" Yuuri panted, feeling overwhelmed and completely exhausted. "Is it another girl?"

Instead of checking, Victor pulled the wiggly baby up through Yuuri’s legs and into his mate’s hands, wanting Yuuri to get the first look this time. “You tell me, daddy,” he said.

Yuuri gasped as he felt the wet, soft bundle of joy placed in his arms. He looked down with blurry vision to see it was a happy baby boy who was gurgling and groaning in his arms. "He's a boy and he's amazing," Yuuri told his mate as he brought the baby to his chest for skin-to-skin contact.

Victor smiled, feeling truly content. He helped Yuuri to move comfortably and to sit back against the edge of the birthing pool. He felt his heart swell with pride as he looked at his little family. The family he thought he would never had. Now he had a beautiful mate and two perfect tiny babies.

"Yuuri, I'm so proud of you." Hiroko beamed at him and handed him his first pup. She encouraged Yuuri to bring the newborn to his chest and instantly the little girl latched onto him, her tiny hands reaching for his chest as she snuggled into him and drank. The little boy reached for his sister, following her scent to Yuuri’s chest where he instantly mouthed at Yuuri’s nipple. Hiroko helped Yuuri, pushing the baby up slightly. “Like this, little one,” she told her new granddaughter, her smile never wavering.

“Thanks, Mama,” Yuuri whispered.Tears were lingering in his eyes and his throat was thick with emotion.

Yuuri held the two of them close to him as Victor stepped out of the pool and began to fuss over him. Victor knew he needed to get Yuuri sorted and to help him deliver the second placenta. He needed to check him over. But for a moment, he wanted to let the omega feed his babies and bond with them. The poor guy was in shock from the labour and still shaking and trembling and clearly still in pain with contractions as his body followed instinct, regardless of whether the omega was ready or not.

Victor grabbed one of the dressing gowns and wrapped himself up. Hiroko had readied the bed for Yuuri when the labour began, so everything they needed was already there. Only when Yuuri felt ready to move did Victor attempt to help him as he knew trying to separate him from his pups would have him in the bad books. They all sat in a comfortable, awed-filled silence as they all processed what had happened. Victor didn’t know how long they all sat just looking at the babies and smiling at eachother, how many tears fell… Everything was perfect.

“Are you ready, sweetheart? Shall we get you out of the pool?" he asked eventually.

Yuuri nodded weakly while clinging to the tiny babies who had now fallen asleep tucked into his chest. “Yes, please. I’m so exhausted, but I don’t think I can sleep. Lying down would be so nice though,” he whispered.

Victor helped Yuuri and his children out of the pool and immediately Hiroko was at Yuuri’s other side, wrapping her son up in towels. “You give those babies to your alpha, now you let your mama take care of you.”

“Are you sure, Mrs Katsuki?” Victor asked.

“Now, Victor, how many times have I told you to call me Hiroko?” She frowned at him playfully. “Now you boys do as you’re told. Victor, let me take over, you’ve been helping Yuuri for hours. Take the babies before they get hungry again,” she encouraged.

Yuuri unsurely handed the babies over to Victor, who cuddled their naked bodies against his warm bare chest so they could scent him. Victor let Yuuri cut both cords before the alpha wrapped them up in his dressing gown and held their precious bodies against his own. “I’ll dress them and check them over, you go with your mama and get washed up.”

“But--”

“Relax, your mum is right. This time is all about you now, you’ve just given birth, I’ve got this while you sort yourself out, okay?” Victor leant forward and gave him a kiss. “I’ll get them settled and then clean up this mess.” Victor smiled as he looked at him. He felt like this was the happiest day of his life, and though Yuuri was a mess, half naked, pale and bleeding, Victor thought he looked so beautiful.

"Okay, thanks, alpha." With one last small smile, Yuuri finally retired to their bedroom to lay down.

It was a sacred ritual within families for omegas to help each other through the birthing process, and Yuuri’s recovery afterwards was just as important as the birth. Hiroki told him so as she helped him climb on the bed and lay him down.

“I remember when you were born, Yuuri. My sister did this for me. Now I will do it for you,” she promised with a smile.

His mother helped him to deliver the second placenta before helping to clean him up. She dressed him in comfortable clothes and explained to him all the secrets she had heard from her own mother and sister when she’d had her first baby, Mari, and Yuuri hung onto every word as he didn’t know what to expect.

Meanwhile, Victor took a few minutes to simply breathe while he was by himself for the first time with his new babies. After the labour, the silence felt noisy and it made him feel restless. He held the babies close. They were still sticky and damp, but they were warm and they smelt like Yuuri and himself, a unique scent of them combined together and it made emotion catch in his throat.

Victor was a father.

He was holding two tiny miracles.

He had never been so happy.

The two of them had soft dark hair like Yuuri and they were pink and wrinkled and beautiful. The boy was much bigger than the girl, probably by two or three pounds but Victor wasn’t worried as it was usual to have a more dominant twin. He proudly dried them off, careful not to disrupt the patches of soft white vernix that still covered their skin in a protective layer, and then dressed them in soft little onesies. They protested at being put down even for only a few seconds, and Victor hushed them.

“My darlings, it’s okay, daddy has got you, I’m still here.” He talked to them softly in Russian, kissing their faces as he gently picked them back up. He immediately grabbed the sling wrap they had brought and then secured them to him, not willing to put them down for longer than a few seconds. With them securely curled against him and sleeping soundly, Victor went about cleaning up and waiting for Yuuri, still hardly believing that this day was already here.

By the time Hiroko was finished, it was dark outside and she retired to her room after giving Yuuri a gentle kiss on the forehead and congratulating him once more. Yuuri basked in the silence of the room for a moment until Victor entered, still cradling their two babies in his arms.

"Victor," Yuuri muttered sleepily, moving into a sitting position. "Are you okay? Can I hold my babies again now?"

It was as if they could smell their daddy, as they both suddenly stirred, their faces screwing up and frowning. “I think they can smell your milk, Yuuri,” Victor said before gently handing them over as he sat on the bed next to the omega.

Yuuri happily snuggled his two pups to his chest, smiling down at them as he guided them to suckle from his breast. "They are both so perfect. I can't believe how blessed we are." Tears pricked in his eyes and he pulled them both impossibly closer. "I'm so excited to name them. Have you had any ideas?"

“Jelena,” Victor said with a smile, stroking his hand over the babies head, gently petting across her soft spot as she drank from Yuuri. She opened her eyes a little way and looked up at Yuuri and Victor as she fed. Victor felt his heart melt.

“It means ‘a fresh start’ or ‘a new branch’,” Victor explained.

“That sounds perfect,” Yuuri admitted as he brought his new baby girl close to his face and kissed her dewy little forehead. “I had a name I liked for the boy, but it’s Japanese. I wasn’t sure how you would feel about a Japanese name, after all, you’re their alpha. It’s important that you name them.”

“Of course we can use Japanese names! Yuuri, they’re half me and half you, so as a whole they are pretty perfect. It’s fitting to honour both of our heritages. What name did you have in mind?” he asked.

“I was thinking Yukiko,” Yuuri told him with a small smile. “It roughly translates to ‘snow child’ and I think that’s more than appropriate.”

Victor smiled. He guessed it was. “That sounds perfect, my love.”

The two of them turned as the door creaked open and Makkachin appeared, his tail wagging softly as he curiously stepped towards the new pups. He climbed onto the bed, curling up on Victor and Yuuri’s legs and they all lay together. It was then that they spent their first night together as a family — one of many more to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologises for the delay!


End file.
